Health Care Costs Grew More Slowly in 2007
The cost of employer-provided health insurance grew by 6.1 percent in 2007, the smallest increase since 1999. The increase still outpaces both wage increases (3.7 percent) and the increase in inflation (2.6 percent), according to The Washington Post.

“Health insurance is becoming increasingly unaffordable for more and more Americans, and for many businesses,” says Drew E. Altman, president of the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, which sponsored the survey.

Additionally, the percentage of people covered by employer-based health insurance has dropped. In 2000, 64.2 percent of people were covered by such insurance. That percentage had fallen to 60.2 percent by 2005, and fell again to 59.7 percent in 2006. That percentage represents about 177 million people.

Premiums have risen 78 percent since 2001, while wages have increased 19 percent and consumer prices have risen 17 percent. Workers’ share of health insurance for family coverage has increased by about $1,500 over the same period. In 2007, the average cost for family coverage was $12,106, of which employees paid $3,281 each and employers covered the balance.

75 percent of survey respondents said they were “very” or “somewhat” worried about rising health coverage costs. Business leaders are also complaining about the rising costs of health care, saying it threatens their competitiveness and causes them to consider shifting a greater percentage of the cost to workers or even dropping the benefit.

“We are witnessing a slow but certain long-term erosion of our employer-based system,” says Jon R. Gabel, an author of the study. Census Bureau officials attribute the record number of Americans without health insurance in large part to declines in employer-sponsored coverage.

For more information, visit the Kaiser Family Foundation at www.kff.org.

Brain Research in Israel Holds Hope for Prosthetics
Researchers at Hebrew University in Israel are working on a new way to measure brain activity that will more accurately assess which neural impulses correspond to which limb movements. Current methods, such as placing intra-cortical wires in the brain to measure electrical activity or using a mesh of electrodes on the scalp, do not necessarily provide measurements accurate enough to control prostheses.

This new approach measures the activity of all nerve cells 100 to 200 micrometers away from a recording electrode. Multiple independent readings are obtained simultaneously from many adjacent points, which allows the researchers to obtain highly accurate readings. The researchers believe that someday this high degree of accuracy will allow a robotic limb to respond to a user’s intention.

The research may also help those with paralyzed limbs to regain function.

For more information, visit www.israel21c.org.

ACA Makes New How-To Videos Available
The Amputee Coalition of America (ACA) has uploaded a series of nine streaming videos under the heading “Introductory Amputee Care” to its Web site. ACA President and CEO Paddy Rossbach, R.N., narrates the videos, intended as a resource for recent lower-limb amputees.

The titles include: “Wrapping with an Elastic Bandage (AK or BK),” “Applying a Shrinker,” “Walking with a Dynamic Response Foot,” “Using Crutches,” and “Donning an AK Prosthesis with a Full Suction Socket.”

The ACA believes these videos will help new amputees to establish the basic skills they need for the recovery process and to get used to a lower-limb prosthesis, as well as providing a resource for caregivers to share with patients.

The videos can be accessed at www.amputee-coalition.org/video/introductory_amputee_care.html. The ACA also has several other videos on their site, which are available for interlibrary loan, including rehabilitation for upper-limb, trans-tibial and trans-femoral amputees.

For more information, visit www.amputee-coalition.org.

NGO Provides O&P Training to Iraqis
The Center for International Rehabilitation (CIR), a U.S. non-governmental organization, joined with the Iraqi Ministry of Health to provide training in Bosnia from September to December of 2007 for 110 Iraqi physical therapists, rehabilitation center managers and hospital-based physicians who care for civilians wounded by fighting in Iraq.

The program, which combined academic course work with hands-on training, was part of the Iraqi Ministry’s Emergency Disability Project (EDP), funded by the World Bank. The ministry worked with professionals at Northwestern University and the University of Illinois at Chicago to develop course materials. The CIR and University Klinical Center (UKC) in Tuzla, Bosnia (which hosts the six training sessions) provided instructors.

The training encompassed sessions for 70 physical therapists, covering amputee, neurologic, pediatric and general rehabilitation; sessions for 20 rehabilitation center managers in business subjects such as human resources, needs assessment and health systems; and sessions for 20 hospital-based physicians on spinal cord injury, traumatic brain injury, amputee and medical rehabilitation.

Hector Casanova, vice president of programs for CIR, states that while statistics are not available, it is estimated that “most victims [of violence in Iraq] have to wait more than a year to receive the care that they need in order to regain their mobility and functionality. We hope that this initiative will help address the long-term needs of this sector of the population and lead to improved care.”

For more information, visit www.cirnetwork.org.

Dolphin Amputee Inspires Humans
The June 2007 O&P Almanac reported on an Atlantic bottlenose dolphin named Winter at the Clearwater Marine Aquarium in Florida. Winter has fascinated the press since her rescue from a crab trap in 2005, when she lost her tail and three vertebrae. Kevin Carroll, CP, FAAOP, of Hanger Orthopedic Group Inc., designed a prosthetic tail for Winter, which has now been fitted, and the dolphin is learning to use her new tail correctly to swim.

As reported in the Tampa Tribune, David Yates, CEO of the aquarium, has announced a policy of complimentary visits with Winter for amputees who call to schedule an appointment. The first group of visitors included an Iraq war veteran from Chicago, Ret. Army Lt. Melissa Stockwell, and several children––Katrina Simpkins, from Columbia City, Ind.; Alex Miller of Sarasota, Fl.; and Anthony Burruto, from New York and Orlando. Each has a prosthetic leg, and all were happy to have the chance to feed and pet the fellow amputee.

“Winter relates to me because…she has to get used to her new fin and I had to get used to my new sockets and my [prostheses],” says Burruto.

Yates was surprised at the amount of interest in Winter from the amputee community, with both individuals and support groups expressing their sense of kinship with the young dolphin.

To make an appointment to see Winter, phone the Clearwater Marine Aquarium at (727) 441-1790.

For more information, visit www.heraldtribune.com.

Prosthetics Team at Johns Hopkins Honored by Popular Mechanics
The Revolutionizing Prosthetics 2009 (RP 2009) team, based at Johns Hopkins University’s Applied Physics Laboratory, has received a Breakthrough Award from Popular Mechanics. The awards were given in a ceremony Oct. 10 at the Hearst Tower in New York.

“Popular Mechanics is devoted to recognizing innovations that re-imagine the role that technology and science play in our lives,” says James Meigs, editor-in-chief of the magazine. The Breakthrough Award is given to inventions that can improve people’s lives.

The RP 2009 team, funded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), completed work on their Proto 1 arm earlier this year.

The Proto 1 is controlled naturally, provides sensory feedback, and allows for eight degrees of freedom. The award was given for the next-generation Proto 2, which approaches the strength and speed of a natural arm. It also provides sensory feedback for touch, temperature, and limb position.  

As shown in the photo, the RP 2009 intrinsic hand includes 18 motors enclosed within the hand and an additional three motors in the wrist, allowing 18 different degrees of freedom in the hand and fingers alone. This functionality allows a patient to move individual fingers and control a variety of hand grasp patterns. Now, patients wearing the arm are able to pick up pennies off a table or wave using all of the mechanical fingers.

For more information, visit www.jhu.edu.

ABC Board Member Rates a Chapter in Tom Brokaw’s New Book
Tom Coakley, a public member of ABC’s board of directors, and his wife, Nellie, are featured in a chapter of a new Tom Brokaw book. Brokaw’s book, Boom! Voices of the Sixties, is published by Random House. The book reflects on the baby boomer generation and how both famous and ordinary citizens were affected by the changes that erupted in American society during the 1960s.

Brokaw writes about Tom and Nellie Coakley’s experiences during the Vietnam War, as Tom, a below-knee amputee as a result of wounds sustained on the battlefield in 1968, recovered at Walter Reed, where Nellie served as an Army nurse.

As a young journalist, Brokaw attended a speech given by Nellie Coakley, and his memories of the speech and conversations he later had with the couple create a background for the chapter titled, “Married to Vietnam: Tom and Nellie Coakley.”

In addition to serving on ABC’s board, Coakley is vice president of administrative operations at St. Lawrence University in New York.

For more information on Boom! Voices of the Sixties, visit www.randomhouse.com.

Call for Papers for 2008 AOPA National Assembly
AOPA is announcing a call for papers! Share your expertise at the 2008 AOPA National Assembly, which will be held in Chicago, Ill. from Sept. 10-13.  Your submissions, based on sound research and strong empirical data, will set the stage for a broad curriculum of highly valued clinical and scientific offerings at the 2008 assembly.

Presentations will be selected from among abstracts received by the AOPA Clinical Sessions workgroup, consisting of C. Michael Schuch, CPO, FISPO, FAAOP, Chris Fairman, CPO and Thomas Gavin, CO. Eligible presenters will receive a complimentary full-conference registration for the 2008 AOPA National Assembly.

An electronic Call for Papers form should be submitted to Tina Moran at AOPA no later than January 31, 2008. To obtain a form, contact Tina at (571) 431-0808 or tmoran@AOPAnet.org.

People in the News

Sheila Van Pay has joined the Amputee Coalition of American (ACA) as federal campaign field organizer. Van Pay will support all aspects of ACA’s federal parity campaign, including designing and implementing outreach strategies and organizing events. Van Pay’s background is in campaign management, community development and public policy. She worked previously for a member of the Scottish parliament in the 2007 elections.

American Orthopedics in Columbus, Ohio has hired three new residents:

Jennifer Anderson began her orthotic residency in October 2007. She has a master’s degree in biomedical engineering from Ohio State University and a certificate from the Northwestern University Prosthetics-Orthotics Center.

Michael Hansen began his prosthetic residency in August 2007, and also completed his orthotic residency earlier in 2007. His master’s degree in orthotics and prosthetics is from Georgia Tech.

Evan Zillich began his prosthetic residency in July 2007, after completing his orthotic residency earlier in the year. Zillich received his master’s degree in orthotics and prosthetics from Eastern Michigan University.

Devon Bernard has been promoted to reimbursement services coordinator in the government affairs department at AOPA. He will be assisting members with coding and billing questions and e-mail inquiries.

Thomas Glover has joined Myomo Inc. of Boston, Mass., as chief executive officer. Most recently, Glover was CEO and president of Vasomedical Inc. He has a total of more than 25 years of executive leadership experience, with a focus on emerging medical device technologies. Myomo Inc. is a medical device company that recently debuted a portable robotic orthosis for arm dysfunction caused by stroke.

Kentucky state senator Richard “Dick” Roeding was given the 2007 Kentucky Legislator of the Year Award by the Kentucky Orthotic Prosthetic Association (KOPA). The award is presented to a Kentucky legislator who promotes O&P patient rights and care, as well as O&P professionals’ concerns, through his or her legislative efforts. KOPA presented the award to Roeding at its fall meeting at Keeneland Race Course on October 18, 2007.

In October 2007 in Kona, Hawaii, Scott Rigsby became the first below-knee amputee to complete an Ironman triathlon. Rigsby completed the 2.4-mile swim, 112-mile cycle, and 26.2-mile marathon in 16 hours, 42 minutes and 46 seconds. Rigsby previously attempted an Ironman event in Idaho earlier in 2007, but crashed during the cycling segment.

Businesses in the News

The Amputee Coalition of America (ACA) has received a new four-year grant, of $1.65 million per year, from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to continue a cooperative agreement with the CDC started in 1997. This agreement enables the ACA to manage its National Limb Loss Information Center, a collection of resources for amputees, O&P professionals and institutions. The renewal grant will help the ACA expand programs such as its summer youth camp, national peer network, and organizational partnerships.

Arimed, a Brooklyn-based O&P firm, has been honored by Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz and his advisory committee on disability issues. Arimed has a history of employing individuals with disabilities. This was the second award since 2005 that Arimed has received from the Brooklyn Borough president. The first was a Business Advocacy Award for its generosity in donating prostheses to victims of violence, accidents
and war.

Footmaxx Inc., a Toronto-based manufacturer of orthoses, was sold to Foot Levelers Inc., a Virginia orthotics company, for $17.4 million. Foot Levelers is working out a plan to close the Goffstown, N.H. plant over the next year, and is offering its New Hampshire employees relocation packages and incentives.

Nine students who completed an online bachelor’s degree in prosthetics and orthotics at the National Centre for Prosthetics and Orthotics at La Trobe University went on to be the first class to graduate from the Cambodian School of Prosthetics and Orthotics (CPSO). Cambodia, a country with a large disabled population, is in special need of O&P practitioners. A second group of Cambodian students will begin online studies this month.

NCOPE has launched an electronic directory for students looking for residency programs. The 2007/08 Former NCOPE Resident Networking Directory provides a listing of former residents for prospective students to contact and question about the NCOPE program. The directory can be viewed under the “Resident” tab on NCOPE’s Web site at www.ncope.org.

NCOPE also took over from ABC the responsibility of approving educational courses for orthotic fitting, mastectomy fitting and therapeutic shoes, at the request of ABC’s board of directors. Applications for course approval can be found at the Web site above.

The Orthotic & Prosthetic Assistance Fund, Inc. (OPAF) recently awarded an OPAF grant to the Colorado Springs Sled Hockey Association (CSSHA). The CSSHA is open to disabled persons ages 5 and up who want to learn to play hockey. This is the first grant awarded to CSSHA by OPAF and the first grant OPAF has awarded since 2004. The grant will fund the purchase of one hockey sled.

The United Nations gave Sierra Leone’s national amputee soccer team a donation of $21,000 to cover the team’s participation in the world cup tour in Turkey, November 11-21, 2007. The team was formed in 2001, composed of amputees who lost limbs to the violence of the rebel forces in Sierra Leone’s civil war. It has also taken part in international matches in Russia, England and Brazil.