Being Your Best Self

Advocacy UPDATE
By Amy Colberg, M.Ed., Director of Government Affairs, Brain Injury Association of America
Thank you to the many advocates who continue to rally and
fight for access to care for individuals with brain injury at
the federal level and in the states.
Expert Panel Discusses TBI
and Domestic Violence
The Congressional Brain Injury Task Force
(CBITF), co-chaired by Reps. Bill Pascrell, Jr.
(D-N.J.) and Thomas J. Rooney (R-Fla.), hosted a
briefing, “The Silent Epidemic – TBI and Domestic
Violence,” Oct. 25 in the Congressional Visitors
Center. Susan Connors, president and CEO of
the Brain Injury Association of America (BIAA),
moderated the session, which included these
distinguished panelists, pictured at right:
Anne McDonnell, Brain Injury Association of
Virginia; Donna D. Ferguson, Esq., U.S. Army
Military Police School; Pam Hallman, domestic
violence and TBI survivor; Valerie Maholmes,
Ph.D., Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute
of Child Health and Human Development; and
Javier Cárdenas, M.D., Barrow Concussion and
Brain Injury Center.
President Seeks to Dismantle
the ACA
In October, President Trump announced his desire
to discontinue cost-sharing reduction payments
to insurers. These payments offset out-of-pocket
costs for low-income enrollees in individual
health plans under the Affordable Care Act (ACA).
The president signed an executive order to begin
dismantling the program. The order directs the
Departments of Labor, Treasury, and Health and
Human Services to study how to make it easier to
Brain Injury Association of Virginia Executive Director Anne McDonnell, left,
gathers with other panelists at the briefing, “The Silent Epidemic – TBI and
Domestic Violence.”
buy health insurance through nationwide association
health plans, to purchase coverage insurance across
state lines, and to allow consumers to buy short-term
policies with less coverage and protections for those
with pre-existing conditions. None of the changes will
take place until the federal agencies work through the
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