AAPM&R's State Advocacy Subcommittee recently endorsed a proposed cognitive rehabilitation bill in Massachusetts, Improving Lives by Ensuring Access to Brain Injury Treatment. This bill requires commercial health insurance plans to authorize appropriate rehabilitation following brain injury.
Number: MA S.502/H.2166
Sponsor: Senator Harriette L Chandler & Representative Kimberly Ferguson
Title: Improving Lives by Ensuring Access to Brain Injury Treatment
Abstract: The purpose of this bill is to mandate private insurers to fill the existing gap in coverage for post-acute cognitive rehabilitation services, which are medically necessary for an individual to recover from an acquired brain injury and return to work, family life and safe functioning at home, and in the community These services are crucial for an individual who has been medically stabilized and discharged from an acute hospital, but whose persistent cognitive deficits are severe enough to present personal safety concerns and require continued medical interventions. Cognitive Rehabilitation Therapy (CRT) is a process of re-learning cognitive skills essential for daily living through the coordinated specialized, integrated therapeutic treatments, which are provided in dynamic settings designed for efficient and effective re-learning following brain injury. Treatment can mean the difference between a lifetime of institutionalization and the ability to return to home and work.
Status: Referred to Joint Committee on Financial Services
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