New California bill would mandate O&P coverage for children

[Guest guest]

New California bill would mandate O & P coverage for children

In Stride by (from Biomechanics Magazine May 2005)

Undeterred by a state budget crisis and stagnant reimbursement rates

for O & P services, the California Orthotics and Prosthetics

Association (COPA) and a freshman member of the state assembly have

found a way to introduce a bill that would require coverage of

prescription orthotic and prosthetic devices for children.

In late February, Bill Emerson, ® Redlands in Southen California

introduced Assembly Bill 976, which mandates that O & P services and

products must be reimbursed in the same manner as other benefits.

According to Sherry Daley, Marketing Coordinator for COPA, the

differences between this bill and some others recently introduced in

other state leglislatures is that is covers children only and is not

a " parity bill. "

Given our state's tremendous budget problems and the resultant

whittling away of the reimbursement rate for Medicaid here (MediCal),

our board felt uneasy about tying the reimbursement to any public

payer reimbursement schedule, " Daley said. " Instead, we references

other code sections in California's Insurance and Corporations Codes. "

Assemblyman Emmerson said he was committed to seeing the bill

through to passage. " Providing an increased level of insurance

coverage for children will ensure a better quality of life for them, "

he said.

A recently passed California law requires all newly introduced

insurance mandates that cover adults to be sent to a special

leglislative study committee before they can be considered by a

leglislative insurance committee. Limiting the bill to children

avoids this roadblock while COPA pursues adult coverage through

standard leglislative streams.

(NOTE: This news is very interesting, as Public Health Policy in

California often promotes National Health Policy - Gretchen)