Transcript ACBIS - Department For Aging And Rehabilitative Services

2013 Report:
Brain Injury in Virginia
Anne McDonnell
Executive Director
A Few Statistics
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimate that 1.7 million
people in the U.S. sustain traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) annually and at least
5.3 million children and adults live with a permanent disability as a result of a
TBI
Nearly 200,000 Virginians are disabled as a result of brain injury, which is roughly
the same number as those with intellectual and developmental disabilities
The waiting list for services at some of Virginia’s state funded community based
brain injury services exceeds 3 years
State funding for brain injury supports and services is less than $4 million annually;
yet, in the last 2 years more than $40 million was appropriated to fund the
federally required expansion of community based services and supports for
persons with intellectual and developmental disabilities
A Few Thoughts
Falls are the number one cause of brain injury, but we are more likely to buy and
use helmets for our smart phones than for our heads
Each year over 1 million Americans sustain a brain injury…that’s more than hear a
diagnosis of cancer, and yet more money is devoted to treating and curing
cancer than treating and curing brain injury
No other organ system that is injured or diseased is subject to the same limits as
treatment for brain injury…
• When someone has a mild heart attack, we don’t tell them we’re not going
to worry about it until they have “the big one” or that their eligibility for
post-acute treatment depends on the likelihood of reasonable improvement
• 24 therapy visits is like saying to someone, “Take your blood pressure
medication every other day ”
2013 Legislative Initiatives - National
Access To Care
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Medicaid Expansion
Eliminate the Medicare 2 year waiting period
Preserve and Expand TBI Rehabilitation Research Capacity
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Increase funding for current TBI Model Systems research
Expand number of funded centers
Re-Authorize the TBI Act
H.R. 1098 was introduced in March by Reps. Pascrell and Rooney, co-chairs of the
Congressional Brain Injury Task Force
• Will reauthorize and improve current programs, reemphasize the impact of TBI across
the age span and make things better for those with brain injury
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2014 Legislative Initiatives- Virginia
Working with Del Kirk Cox on $4.4 million budget amendment to fund existing core
safety net services (Case Management, Day Programs and Clubhouses, and
Resource Coordination) to address waiting lists, provide a rate adjustment, and
expand core services into unserved and underserved areas
Possibilities:
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Access to mental health and neurobehavioral care
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Expansion of menu of core services to include Community Supports and
Residential Services
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Medicaid expansion
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Hit counts/concussion reporting
Other opportunities will be identified as bills get filed and partners start sharing
their agendas
Opportunity’s Knocking…
Department of Justice Settlement
• Requires Virginia to improve the rate at which individuals are discharged from
state training centers and transitioned into the community.
• The Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services, the state
agency in charge of implementing the settlement, has contracted a study on
integrating the ID and DD waivers into a “needs based” or “universal” or
“functional” waiver.
Neurobehavioral Program
• A small subset of people with brain injury have significant behavioral issues
that put their safety and the safety of others at risk, but the system of care in
Virginia is inadequate
• Several have been placed in out of state facilities, and the inability to get the
right help at the right time has culminated in deaths, placed others at great
risk, and frustrated those who have been injured, their families, clinical staff
and state agency personnel.
…Get Up and Open the #*!@ Door!
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DARS
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Statewide Needs and Resources Assessment
Virginia Brain Injury Council
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