Date______

Senator Jim Beall

State Capitol, Room 2068

Sacramento, CA 95814

Re:Letter of Support – SB 320 (Beall)

Dear Senator Beall:

As a ______I strongly support the enactment of Senate Bill 320.

Brain injury is more complicated than any other disease and requires highly specialized treatment. The National Institutes of Health reports that rehabilitation is the single most effective treatment following brain injury. Both the clinical efficacy and cost efficiency of the treatment continuum have been demonstrated in the scientific literature.

SB 320 will enable uniform and non-discriminatory access to treatment for acquired brain injury across an established continuum of licensed treatment settings specifically designed to provide the most clinically effective and cost efficient specialized treatment for acquired brain injury and to ensure that acquired brain injury as a catastrophic health condition is treated on par with other major medical conditions which have no time limitations. Current rehabilitation provisions are time limited and are intended for orthopedic conditions, rather than neurologic injury. Arbitrary time or cost limitations on neurological rehabilitation are inappropriate and passage of SB 320 will provide opportunities for recovery as observed in individuals like ABC reporter Bob Woodruff, Senator Michael Kirk, Senator Tim Johnson and Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, who have demonstrated what is possible with proper access to specialized treatment of appropriate timing, duration and intensity.

Current access to treatment is inconsistent, leaving many patients with unnecessary levels of disease and disability. Failure to access appropriate treatment promotes disability, medical indigence, financial impoverishment, joblessness, homelessness, institutionalization and disease progression and undue financial burden to the public sector. SB 320 will not result in direct costs to the State of California but rather reduce the lifetime costs to the State of California for each 100 persons who access appropriate treatment, which is projected to be $2.1 billion. Total lifetime savings per year for all persons sustaining acquired brain injury are likely to exceed $74 billion.

On behalf of all persons living with brain injury, I sincerely appreciate and thank you for your efforts in authoring SB 320 to better the treatment outcomes for those Californians and their families who have suffered brain injury.

Sincerely,

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Cc:Senator Ed Hernandez, O.D (Chair)Senator Jim Nielsen

Senator Joel Anderson (Vice Chair)Senator Fran Pavley

Senator Mark DeSaulnierSenator Lois Wolk

Senator Bill Monning