National leaders in the O&P field testified before the House
of Representatives Small Business Committee on July 16 in favor of
HR 5730, the Injured and Amputee Veterans Bill of Rights. The bill
would require the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to post
a list of patients’ rights in every VA prosthetic clinic, including
the right to access the latest and most appropriate technology and
the right to have access to the private practitioner of their
choice. Tom Guth, CP, president of the National Association for the
Advancement of Orthotics and Prosthetics (NAAOP), spoke before the
committee about the critical role that small private O&P
practices play in service to U.S. veterans. Testimony was also
given by Fred Downs, chief of the Veterans Affair’s (VA) Prosthetic
and Sensory Aids Division, James Rogers, CPO, FAAOP, president of
the American Academy of Orthotists and Prosthetists (the Academy),
and Dennis Clark, CPO, President of POINT Health Centers of
America, Waterloo, Iowa, who has performed prosthetic care through
Walter Reed Army Medical Center. The bill was introduced on April 8
by Robert Filner (D-CA), Chairman of the House Veterans Affairs
Committee.
