Act Now!

The past few days have been a flurry of activity and frustrations surrounding the Medicare proposals. I am honored to lend my efforts to rescinding these proposals, but I find myself frustrated that the amputee community does not seem to understand the gravity of the situation. There seems to be the misconception that these proposals, if adopted, would only impact those individuals who are currently utilizing the Medicare system. While this is technically true, I fear the community is relying upon a false safety net.

Private insurers almost always follow the lead of Medicare. If these disabling proposals are adopted, it is widely assumed that most if not all insurance policies will quickly follow suit. After all, these proposals offer an abundance of reasons to deny costly devices in lieu of cheap crutches. As sad as the reality is to admit, insurance companies always want to provide the cheapest option, despite the impact on quality of life. These proposals provide them with carte blanche to utilize their denial stamp. 

These Medicare proposals threaten to take away the quality of care that amputees deserve and the devices that are required to live active and healthy lives. This is not a time to rely upon others to fight the battle; we need to unite and fight against proposals that threaten our access to prosthetics. In one voice we need to send a clear message that denying prosthetics is wrong and will not be tolerated. This is not a battle for others to fight; we all need to become involved. 

I urge everybody to write to and call our elected officials. Please sign this petition and continue to rally support. These detrimental proposals threaten our mobility, and we must all work together to stop them!