IHMAssociation - Write Congress Today!

TRICARE refused to pay for HBOT 1.5 therapy for two members of the Armed Forces who were referred for treatment by their military physician. (See the published peer-reviewed Journal Report of their recovery under IHMA Public Policy Bulletin 2010-01) [Link to Wright article] Further, TRICARE has stated that congress required them to pay for experimental cancer therapy but not for anything else. Untreated traumatic brain injury is just as deadly as cancer.

So, Dr. Bill Duncan, our lobbyist in Washington, D.C., crafted HR 7299, and Congressman Cannon and Congresswoman Napolitano introduced it for you in the last Congress. It has been reintroduced in this Congress as HR 4568 by Congressman Pete Sessions, and the Co-Chairs of the Brain Injury Caucus, Congressmen Bill Pascrell and Todd Platts.

This bill requires VA and TRICARE to pay for TBI and PTSD treatments that work. Since hyperbaric oxygen treatments have worked 100% of the time for veterans of this war, and has reduced TBI and PTSD symptoms and allowed the vast majority to return to gainful employment, it will qualify and be reimbursed to the treating centers 30 days after treatment. [See Harch abstract 100312] [Link]

Join this historic effort! Write your Member of Congress today! We have a very good chance of having this legislation added to the House Armed Services bill for FY 2011!

We have a historic opportunity to change medical policy in America not only for veterans but for EVERYONE. Once VA and Tricare do this, it will be a small step to establish the same principles for Medicare and Medicaid. United, the community can make this happen.

Congressional Policy Statement Sponsors Statement from Pete Sessions
HR 4568 Bill - Complete Text Last Year's Bill 7299 for your comparision PDF

Enter Your Contact Information then add your comments to the Petition letter, which will be sent to your representatives.

BOLD Items are required

First Name:

Last Name:

Degree(s): optional

Address - Line 1:

Address - Line 2: optional

City:

State/Province:

Zip + 4: required

Email:

Type of Email Updates:
Text - Plain
HTML - Pictures & Color

Text
HTML
None

Look-up Your Zip 4 - USPS
BOLD Items are required

Dear Senator/Representative: (The correct name will be added in here)

On February 4, 2010, "The TBI Treatment Act," HR 4568, was introduced in the 111th Congress by Congressmen Pete Sessions, Bill Pascrell and Todd Platts. Congressmen Pascrell and Platts are cochairs of the brain injury caucus. This is the reintroduction of HR 7299 from the last Congress.

Please contact Congressman Sessions office to cosponsor HR 4568. Hundreds of thousands of our veterans need effective treatment right now and this legislation will make it possible.

The bill requires the VA or TRICARE to pay for ANY treatment for traumatic brain injury (TBI) or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) that WORKS. Payment will be made to any treatment facility within 30 days that 1) is delivered using an already FDA approved drug or device; 2) follows an IRB-approved protocol; 3) for which there is improvement on standardized independent pre-treatment and post-treatment neuropsychological testing or accepted survey instruments or neurological imaging or clinical examination.

For example, hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) delivered at 1.5 atmospheres has caused 100% of the veterans recently treated to have significant improvements. Veterans' TBI and PTSD symptoms have resolved or been significantly improved. Eighty percent of those veterans, who were previously unable to work, have been able to return to gainful employment. TRICARE and the VA have refused to pay for this treatment even though they pay for 13 other approved HBOT indications, including other kinds of non-healing wounds besides those in the brain. The science is clear. HBOT is the only non-hormonal biological repair and regeneration treatment approved by the FDA. There has been a lack of understanding of the science about how oxygen heals, and a belief that there is no treatment for brain injury, that has held back this breakthrough.

[PLACE YOUR PERSONAL COMMENTS BELOW. TELL THE CONGRESS MEMBER HOW THIS TREATMENT HAS HELPED YOUR FAMILY, OR YOUR SITUATION OR YOUR FAMILY'S SITUATION THAT IS PREVENTING YOU FROM RECEIVING TREATMENT. CONGRESS MAKES DECISIONS BASED UPON THESE PERSONAL EXPERIENCES, THE EXPERIENCES OF THE PEOPLE WHO VOTE FOR THEM.]

The veterans of this war need help right now, and there is a treatment protocol that has been used for many years to treat brain injury. Untreated brain injury is the single most expensive public health crisis in society. Waiting to treat brain injured veterans causes most to experience a downward spiral including broken homes, disability, joblessness, homelessness, and even suicide. However, there is real biological repair treatment, not just symptomatic treatment with drugs. See the science at http://www.hyperbaricmedicalfoundation.org. Please support HR 4568 and make sure it is put onto the first bill that moves through Congress to get our veterans help now.