Veterans Back and Spinal Therapy Act - Directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs (VA) to establish a two-year pilot program to: (1) provide covered veterans with non-invasive techniques to treat spinal, back, and musculoskeletal injuries and pain; and (2) use an evidence-based medicine framework to assess the effectiveness of such techniques. Includes as a covered veteran one who: (1) has a service-connected spinal, back, or musculoskeletal injury; or (2) is eligible for VA hospital or nursing home care or medical services by reason of active duty in a theater of combat operations during a period of war after the Persian Gulf War.
Requires the Secretary, in selecting program participants, to give a preference to veterans who served in Operations Enduring Freedom, Iraqi Freedom, or New Dawn.
[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6211 Introduced in House (IH)]
111th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 6211
To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to establish a pilot
program to evaluate the effectiveness of treating veterans with spinal,
back, and musculoskeletal injuries and pain using non-invasive
techniques.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
September 23, 2010
Ms. Markey of Colorado introduced the following bill; which was
referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to establish a pilot
program to evaluate the effectiveness of treating veterans with spinal,
back, and musculoskeletal injuries and pain using non-invasive
techniques.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Veterans Back and Spinal Therapy
Act''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) One in five members of the Armed Forces who were
wounded and evacuated from Afghanistan during the summer and
early fall of 2009 suffered a spinal injury, and at least 14 of
such members were left paralyzed or with loss of sensation.
(2) In Afghanistan, members of the Armed Forces routinely
carry up to 33 percent more than the suggested maximum weight
and up to nearly 75 percent of a member's own body weight--
routinely hefting combat gear that can exceed 120 pounds,
causing large numbers of spinal, back, and musculoskeletal
injuries and pain.
(3) The use of massive improvised explosive devices by
insurgents against heavily armed mine resistant ambush
protected vehicles has significantly increased the number of
spinal, back, and musculoskeletal injuries and pain.
(4) Advances in both body armor protection and medical
treatment have drastically decreased the number of deaths among
deployed members of the Armed Forces, but there has been an
increase in the number of members with spinal, back, and
musculoskeletal injuries and long-term pain.
(5) Members of the Armed Forces returning from Iraq are
more likely to suffer lingering, debilitating injuries from
back and musculoskeletal pain than from battle wounds,
according to statistics compiled by the Secretary of Veterans
Affairs.
(6) Diagnoses of ruptured spinal discs, compressed discs,
degenerative disc disease, and myofascial pain syndrome are
common in members of the Armed Forces returning from
Afghanistan and Iraq.
(7) Spinal and back injuries are the most expensive
musculoskeletal disorder to treat.
(8) Certain facilities of the Department of Veterans
Affairs offer outstanding non-invasive technologies for
treating spinal, back, and musculoskeletal injuries as well as
any accompanying mental health issues.
(9) Traditional medical approaches to spinal, back, and
musculoskeletal injuries typically involve a combination of
long-term medication, surgery, and short-term physical therapy.
(10) Using non-invasive techniques to treat veterans with
spinal, back, and musculoskeletal injuries can improve the
health outcomes for such veterans and drastically reduce the
long-term costs of care for such veterans by breaking the cycle
of expensive surgery followed by long-term pain medication that
often leads to addiction, depression, anxiety, and weight gain.
(11) Non-invasive techniques that are not widely available
in medical facilities of the Department of Veterans Affairs,
including manual physical therapy, core strengthening and
stabilization therapy, water exercise therapy, group exercise
therapy, and pain management therapy, should be evaluated in an
evidence-based medicine framework to assess their
effectiveness.
SEC. 3. PILOT PROGRAM TO PROVIDE VETERANS WITH NON-INVASIVE TECHNIQUES
FOR SPINAL, BACK, AND MUSCULOSKELETAL INJURIES.
(a) Establishment.--The Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall
establish a pilot program to--
(1) provide covered veterans with non-invasive techniques
to treat spinal, back, and musculoskeletal injuries and pain;
and
(2) use an evidence-based medicine framework to assess the
effectiveness of such non-invasive techniques.
(b) Scope.--
(1) Size.--The pilot program shall include a representative
sample of covered veterans that is of sufficient size for the
Secretary to determine--
(A) the effectiveness and feasibility of providing
veterans with non-invasive techniques to treat spinal,
back, and musculoskeletal injuries and pain; and
(B) the unique considerations that exist with
respect to providing such treatment--
(i) to female veterans;
(ii) to veterans of various ages; and
(iii) to veterans located in various
regions of the United States, including both
urban and rural locations.
(2) Preference.--In selecting covered veterans to
participate in the pilot program, the Secretary shall give
preference to covered veterans who served in Operation Enduring
Freedom, Operation Iraqi Freedom, or Operation New Dawn.
(c) Administration.--In administering the pilot program, the
Secretary shall--
(1) determine the type of non-invasive technique to provide
to a covered veteran;
(2) determine the effect of allowing self-referral by a
veteran to receive non-invasive techniques compared with
requiring a veteran to receive a referral from a physician for
non-invasive techniques; and
(3) ensure the use of telehealth technology to provide
covered veterans who reside in rural locations (as determined
by the Secretary) with non-invasive techniques to treat spinal,
back, and musculoskeletal injuries and pain.
(d) Partnership.--
(1) University.--In administering the pilot program, the
Secretary shall seek to enter into an agreement with a
university affiliated with the Department of Veterans Affairs
to carry out the pilot program.
(2) Selection.--In entering into an agreement with a
university under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall ensure that
the individuals who treat covered veterans with non-invasive
techniques for spinal, back, and musculoskeletal injuries and
pain--
(A) are trained to--
(i) effectively treat such veterans; and
(ii) recognize the unique experiences of
such veterans, including experiences related to
serving in Operation Enduring Freedom,
Operation Iraqi Freedom, or Operation New Dawn;
and
(B) use best practices and technologies with
respect to the non-invasive technique being used to
treat such veterans.
(e) Duration.--The pilot program shall begin not later than March
1, 2011, and shall continue for two years.
(f) Reports.--
(1) Initial report.--Not later than June 1, 2012, the
Secretary shall submit to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs of
the House of Representatives and the Committee on Veterans'
Affairs of the Senate a report on the pilot program,
including--
(A) an analysis of the effectiveness and cost-
effectiveness of each non-invasive technique provided
under the pilot program;
(B) an analysis of how the Secretary would
incorporate non-invasive techniques to treat spinal,
back, and musculoskeletal injuries and pain at medical
facilities of the Department of Veterans Affairs;
(C) the amount of cost-savings, if any, created by
providing veterans with non-invasive techniques to
treat spinal, back, and musculoskeletal injuries and
pain;
(D) a comparison of the non-invasive techniques
provided under the pilot program with other methods
used by the Secretary to treat spinal, back, and
musculoskeletal injuries and pain; and
(E) recommendations of the Secretary with respect
to--
(i) continuing or expanding the pilot
program; and
(ii) any legislation or other actions to
improve treating veterans with spinal, back,
and musculoskeletal injuries and pain.
(2) Final report.--Not later than June 1, 2013, the
Secretary shall submit to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs of
the House of Representatives and the Committee on Veterans'
Affairs of the Senate a report containing updated information
to the report submitted under paragraph (1).
(g) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) The term ``covered veteran'' means a veteran who--
(A) has a service-connected spinal, back, or
musculoskeletal injury; or
(B) is eligible for hospital care, medical
services, and nursing home care by virtue of section
1710(e)(1)(D) of title 38, United States Code.
(2) The term ``non-invasive techniques'' means methods of
treatment for spinal, back, and musculoskeletal injuries and
pain other than surgery, including--
(A) manual physical therapy, core strengthening and
stabilization therapy, water exercise therapy, group
exercise therapy, and pain management therapy;
(B) such methods (including recreational therapy)
used by the War Related Illness and Injury Study Center
of the Department of Veterans Affairs located in Palo
Alto, California, and the mindfulness based stress
reduction program of the Puget Sound Health Care System
of the Department of Veterans Affairs that the
Secretary determines to have been successful; and
(C) such other methods not widely available in
medical facilities of the Department of Veterans
Affairs.
<all>
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Referred to the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs.
Referred to the Subcommittee on Health.
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