Bipartisan legislation intended to reauthorize the Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) program recently passed the Senate. The Traumatic Brain Injury Reauthorization Act of 2014 reauthorizes the program for another 5 years at current funding levels. The TBI program offers assistance to millions of Americans who have sustained brain injuries, according to a news story from The Ripon Advance. The news story adds that Senators Orrin Hatch (R, Utah) and Bob Casey (D, Pa) introduced the legislation.
On Casey’s website, the senator designates the legislation’s passage in the Senate as “an important step to continuing our support for individuals living with TBI. I’m hopeful the House will quickly take up and pass this legislation. Traumatic brain injuries have serious consequences for children and adults across the country. This legislation will improve our efforts to address TBI and identify additional opportunities for research into pediatric brain injuries.”
Hatch echoes Casey’s sentiment, adding in The Ripon Advance, “Reauthorizing this program at the current funding level is just the right thing to do for traumatic brain injury victims, such as our veterans and service members returning home from war or student athletes playing the sport they love. I appreciate the leadership of Sen Casey on this important issue and hope the House will act soon to send this important piece of legislation to the President’s desk soon.”
Casey’s website notes that the Casey-Hatch TBI legislation is supported by a variety of medical organizations that include American Association of Neurological Surgeons, American Physical Therapy Association, American Trauma Society, Brain Injury Association of America, Congress of Neurological Surgeons, National Association of State Head Injury Administrators, and the National Council on Aging.
[Source(s): Website of Robert P. Casey, Jr, US Senator for Pennsylvania, and The Ripon Advance]
