The
Amputee Coalition of America (ACA) invites you to a series of community
information and organizing meetings to discuss prosthetic parity in
Pennsylvania!
Pennsylvanians living with limb loss or limb differences face discouraging
obstacles when trying to obtain prosthetic care. Current changes in insurance
coverage for prostheses threaten their ability to lead independent, productive
lives. This is your opportunity to do something about it.
Join
the ACA and the American Disability Coalition (ADC) in a meeting to
discuss pushing for prosthetic coverage in the Pennsylvania state legislature!
Pennsylvania
Prosthetic Parity Organizing Meetings
Pittsburgh
When: Wednesday, May 31, 6:00-7:30 p.m.
Where: Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, Brookline Branch (708-710
Brookline Blvd.)
Central
Pennsylvania/Middletown
When: Thursday, June 1, 6:30-8:30 p.m.
Where: St. Peters Evangelical Lutheran Church (Spring & Union St.)
Philadelphia
When: Monday, June 5, 6:00-7:30 p.m.
Where: Free Library of Philadelphia, South Philadelphia Branch (1700
South Broad St., Broad & Morris St.)
Northeast/Nanticoke
When: Tuesday, June 6, 6:30-8:30 p.m.
Where: Luzerne County Community College (1333 S. Prospect St.), Room 131,
Building 10
PARITY
INFO
Prosthetic Coverage is
Good Medicine for Working Families
How will the bill change the law?
It requires group health insurance to provide coverage
for prosthetics equal to the Medicare benefit level.
What will it cost the average privately insured
individual?
CO was the first state to pass parity legislation.
A report examining prosthetic provision in found that the cost would be .0008%
or 12-cents per person per month.
What will this bill do?
v It
will ensure that insured, working people can continue working and supporting
their families.
v It will
ensure that the tragedy of a child losing a limb is not compounded by forcing
that child to spend the rest of their childhood in a wheelchair when help is
readily available.
v It
will ensure that taxpayers do not get stuck with the bill for health care that
should be provided by a private health insurance company.
Why was the
Medicare benefit level chosen as the standard of care?
The Medicare coverage is a careful balance of cost and an
appropriate level of benefits.
Who currently provides coverage for prosthetic
devices?
Automobile Insurance, Workmens Compensation Insurance,
Medicare, Medicaid and some private insurance polices cover prosthetics.
The problem is that a growing number of group and private
insurance companies cap the benefit so low that the average working family cant
afford a prosthetic. Other insurance companies are creating lifetime caps
or eliminating coverage completely.
What does a family do when they are recovering from
the horror of a husband, wife or child losing an arm or a leg and they are told
that their insurance will not cover the cost of a prosthetic?
In return for premiums paid for group health insurance,
consumers expect to be covered for catastrophic illness or injury. When
they dont have adequate coverage families often go into serious debt.
They mortgage homes, get bank loans, use college and retirement savings or
cost-shift to the state to get a prosthetic from Medicaid.
Is it true that providing prosthetics can actually save
the state money?
YES! The public sector will see cost savings
because appropriate private insurance coverage prevents cost shifting to the
public sector. Cost savings can also be expected in unemployment
insurance, state employment and training programs, rehabilitation and
counseling programs and other social welfare systems. It is estimated
that every dollar spent on rehabilitation, including prosthetic care, saves
more than $11 in disability benefits.
Non-fiscal benefits include a reduction in the secondary conditions
caused by a sedentary lifestyle, decreased dependence on caretakers, and
reduced chance of diabetic-related complications leading to additional limb
amputation. In addition, this segment of the population can become contributing
members of society instead of dependant on it.
For more information, contact the ACA at APPLL@amputee-coalition.org
