In partnership with the National Association for the Advancement of Orthotics & Prosthetics (NAAOP), the American Orthotic & Prosthetic Association (AOPA) is launching a state-based policy initiative to expand access to recreational prostheses as medically necessary healthcare for children. The program, So Kids Can Move, will expand access to the health and social benefits of physical activity for children who need appropriate, evidence-based prosthetic care to do so.
So Kids Can Move will start by targeting Oregon and Washington, seeking to have them become the first states after Maine to cover recreational prostheses for children.
To help promote awareness of the initiative, AOPA and NAAOP are joining forces with Forrest Stump, a Pacific Northwest nonprofit advocacy organization dedicated to promoting equitable access to physical activity for individuals with disabilities, during its annual awareness and advocacy event next month. This year’s event is in conjunction with the Hood To Coast (HTC) Relay, which draws over 19,000 people, but people with disabilities make up less than 1 percent of participants.
Forrest Stump’s team of 12 physically challenged athlete-advocates, a guide for the visually impaired, and a prosthetist/orthotist, will run HTC’s 200 miles in 36 hours on August 26-27 with a message that people with disabilities deserve the right to exercise, but lack of insurance coverage of medically necessary O&P care and other assistive devices prevents equitable access to participation in physical activity.
After piloting this effort in Oregon and Washington, AOPA plans to expand the initiative to other states to enact the same policy, further AOPA’s state-based policy work, and enable more of its members to provide and get reimbursed for recreational prostheses for children.
Read more about Maine’s legislation at “Maine Passes Law for Coverage of Activities-related Prostheses for Children.”
Maine Passes Law for Coverage of Activities-related Prosthesis for Children
