Nebraska Bill would establish Brain Injury Council
Many people living in Nebraska who have suffered traumatic brain injury (TBI) currently lack access to proper resources about their condition. According to an article in the Columbus Telegram, a new bill could change that for the more than 36,000 people who are diagnosed with a brain injury each year in Nebraska. The bill, called […]
Many people living in Nebraska who have suffered traumatic brain injury(TBI) currently lack access to proper resources about their condition.
According to an article in the Columbus Telegram, a new bill could change that for the more than 36,000 people who are diagnosed with a brain injury each year in Nebraska.
The bill, called LB227, would help to establish a Brain Injury Council and Brain Injury Trust Fund, according to Sen. Anna Wishart of Lincoln.
“This would help all Nebraskans dealing with effects of traumatic brain injury,” Wishart said in the article. “The council and trust fund would be created by using an existing four-year federal grant, she said. Friday’s hearing on her bill was her first hearing as a senator.”
Many people in attendance testified in favor of the LB227 bill, including representatives from the Brain Injury Alliance of Nebraska, Nebraska Medical Association and the Madonna Rehabilitation Hospital. According to the article, there were no opponents who spoke out against the bill at the hearing.
“Peggy Reisher, executive director of the Brain Injury Alliance of Nebraska, said the nonprofit is manned by three full-time employees and three part-time employees,” the article reads. “They help people who call asking how to set up Medicaid, how to find transportation services, where to get specific mental or physical health services, among other requests.”
Reisher said they’re basically “middlemen” because many victims of traumatic brain injuries aren’t sure how to find the services they need.
“Brain injury does not discriminate,” Reisher said.
The council proposed by LB227 would help decide how to allocate the funds. Proponents of the bill said that they plan to raise money for the trust fund to continue efforts started under the legislation after the four-year grant runs out, according to the article.
Much of the money would be used to hire people to work one-on-one with families or people who are victims of traumatic brain injury, to help them find the resources they need.
