The TBI Treatment Act, HR 396 has been Reintroduced. Write your Member of Congress today.

[Guest guest]

A Brief History of the TBI Treatment Act

In 2008, 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 2010-03

<http://www.hyperbaricmedicalassociation.org/387/text/586/files/0_IHMAPPB_10_03_\

State_of_the_Science_HBOT1_5_100624_FullCopy.pdf> ) 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, Duncan, Ph.D., our lobbyist in Washington, D.C., crafted HR 7299

<http://www.hyperbaricmedicalassociation.org/387/text/586/files/0_1_DC_HR7299_TB\

I_PTSD_Payment.pdf> , and Congressman Cannon and Congresswoman Napolitano

introduced it for you in the 110th Congress. Two months after the bill was

introduced, Tricare paid for the two Airmen. It was reintroduced in the 111th

Congress . The new bill, HR 4568

<http://www.hyperbaricmedicalassociation.org/403/> by Congressman Pete Sessions

and the Co-Chairs of the Brain Injury Caucus, Congressmen Bill Pascrell and Todd

Platts. The legislation was attached to the House Armed Services bill by Mr.

Sessions, and a companion provision was attached to the Senate Armed Services

bill by Senator Inhofe. In a Senate Armed Services Committee Hearing, General

Chandler, Vice Chief of Staff of the Air Force, told Senator Levin that HBOT had

been working for brain injured veterans and wanted more money for the treatment.

All of your letters were helpful in accomplishing this. Tricare is now paying

for hyperbaric treatment for TBI about ½ of the time, even under the rules of

the TBI Treatment Act. Our efforts are focused on making Tricare payment even

more consistent. The VA has paid for HBOT for brain injury sporadically.

Letters can be sent through the IHMA website at

www.HyperbaricMedicalAssociation.org

The TBI Treatment Act stayed in the Armed Services bills until December, when

the little $10 million provision to get effective brain injury & PTSD treatment

to our veterans was mysteriously stripped during Conference. The sponsors

strongly objected to its removal. The bill has been reintroduced this year as

the TBI treatment Act, HR 396. We are working on a fast-track method of getting

the legislation passed without having our war veterans wait yet another year for

effective treatment.

HBOT 1.5 Works to Biologically Repair Brain Injuries

The HBOT 1.5 TBI/PTSD peer-reviewed and published results have been remarkable,

and consistent regardless of the treating physician. Nearly every war veteran

treated while they were in the service had their career saved, had their medical

board cancelled independent of their HBOT treating physician, and returned to

duty. The two Airmen continued their careers and have since been promoted. One

group of veterans treated by Dr. Harch has been reported at the World Brain

Injury Conference in March 2010.

On average, using only half of the HBOT 1.5 protocol, blast-injured war veterans

experienced 15 point IQ increases from post-injury to post-HBOT 1.5 treatment

(p<0.001) (the difference between a high school drop-out & a college graduate),

40% reduction in post-concussion symptoms [p=0.002 (np)], 30% reduction in PTSD

symptoms (p<0.001), and a 51% decrease in depression (p<0.001). About 80% of

everyone treated who was unable to work has returned to duty, work or school.

About 55% no longer needed medication and the balance often needed less

medication. Improvements are lasting. HBOT is very cost effective. Biologically

repairing brain injury is far less costly than the other consequences.

Write to Support the TBI Treatment Act Today!

The legislation will spur translational medicine, the practice of moving bench

science discoveries into clinical practice. This bill requires VA and TRICARE to

pay for any TBI and PTSD treatments that work. This will permit a wide variety

of treatments to be used, and even entire protocols to be developed. 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 who enroll their veterans in an IRB-approved study. The legislation

gives the government 30 days to pay after the bill has been presented. [see

Harch abstract 100312

<http://www.hyperbaricmedicalassociation.org/387/text/586/files/0_IHMAPPB_10_03_\

State_of_the_Science_HBOT1_5_100624_FullCopy.pdf> ]

Join this historic effort! Write your Member of Congress today! We have a very

good chance of having this legislation passed using fast-track legislative

provisions in the 112th Congress!

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.