Committee considers whether more prosthetics should be covered by insurance

By Brandon Lorenz, Missouri News Network
JEFFERSON CITY — Uncertainty on federal interpretation of the Affordable Care Act gave pause Thursday to an effort to require insurance companies to provide additional coverage for assistive devices.
Right now, insurance companies will cover one assistive device, like prosthetics and mobility wheelchairs. House Bill 2034, sponsored by Rep. Carolyn Caton, R-Blue Springs, requires the MO HealthNet program, health carriers and other health benefit plans to cover at least three devices for multiple uses.
Caton proposes that expanding the coverage would allow patients to have access to affordable necessities for their mobility and their quality of life.
The bill states that the required coverage should include one prosthesis or orthosis for daily use, one for physical activity and one for showering or bathing.
In Thursday’s hearing by the House Health and Mental Health Committee the strongest opposition came from the Missouri Insurance Coalition. They argued that with the Trump administration planning to do away with the federal funding the Affordable Care Act provides, the cost of these additional devices would fall to the state.
For the past 15 years, the federal government has fronted costs for coverage on situations like these due to a legal interpretation of the ACA. However, Hampton Williams, a lobbyist representing the Missouri Insurance Coalition, said a new rule-making decision in the past two weeks was released that indicates the Trump administration is going to change that interpretation.
“Under the ACA, when the states impose mandates, it was an obligation for the state to actually pay for those mandates,” Williams said. “What the Trump administration’s ruling currently is, is to announce they have an intent on reinterpreting how that has been applied in the past.”
In spite of opposition, many veterans, amputees and athletes shared their stories with the committee and asked them to pass the bill.
“Supporting this felt like a continuation of my service to this country,” said Sam Schaefer, a U.S. veteran and amputee. “Everybody wants the option to be able to choose their life and not have outside forces limit something as basic as walking, going for a jog or playing with their kids.”
Committee members showed their support. A 14-year-old undefeated quarterback from Joplin shared his story of his many different “hand-me-down prosthetics” he had received for athletics.
Rep. Jo Doll, D-St. Louis, spoke on the concept of a hand-me-down prosthetic.
“I’m a physical therapist, so I have some knowledge of prosthetics, and truly a hand-me-down prosthetic is not a thing, right? It should be made for you,” Doll said.