Medicaid, Tariffs, and the Breece Fellowship Experience

2025 Breece Fellow Update:  Annika Berlin, the 2025 George and Dena Breece Fellow, is hard at work in Washington, DC, halfway through her 10-week fellowship gaining experience and learning about O&P policy and advocacy. Annika has helped draft an O&P Edge article on Medicaid reforms, researched and authored a paper on the impact of tariffs on orthotic and prosthetic imports, and is helping to plan NAAOP’s first in-person Congressional Fly-In scheduled for July 22nd -23rd , in partnership with OPGA. Annika also visited Nikki Grace Strader of OPGA in Iowa to understand their operation and be exposed to the Iowa state legislature.

​​

Annika also spent two days in Michigan with NAAOP President, Nate Kapa, CP, learning about clinical practice and visiting the Michigan State House. She rounded out her clinical experience at a Hanger Clinic at National Rehabilitation Hospital in DC hosted by Maggie Baumer, former NAAOP President. Annika will continue her fellowship experience through July before returning to her employer, PSYONIC, Inc., an innovative upper limb prosthetic manufacturer.

​​

Medicaid Reforms About to Become a Reality: The most recent version of the Budget Reconciliation bill pending before Congress is about make major changes to the Medicaid program, as well as private coverage available through the Affordable Care Act. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has forecast that as many as 16 million people will lose access to health care coverage as the federal government reduces funding for the Medicaid program by a little less than $1 trillion over ten years. This is likely to have a major impact on access to care, generally, and is expected to have a negative impact on people with limb loss and limb impairment who rely on Medicaid for their O&P coverage.​

 

Tariff Impact on O&P: Working in collaboration with the O&P Alliance, NAAOP has been researching and drafting a statement to help educate the O&P field on the impact of tariffs on O&P imports. The paper will examine the Nairobi Protocol, an international agreement that provides for duty free treatment of devices, parts and accessories that serve the needs of people with disabilities. However, there are key exceptions to tariff law that exempt certain O&P parts and accessories from duty-free treatment. The paper will be released as soon as it has been fully vetted and adopted by the national O&P organizations.​

 

NAAOP In-Person Congressional Fly-In: In close partnership with OPGA, the NAAOP is hosting at the end of July its first-ever, in-person Congressional Fly-In to educate Congress on key O&P priorities. The 30-person event is invitation-only and focuses on board members, fellows, and members of NAAOP who are represented by legislators on key Congressional committees. The agenda will focus on advancing the Medicare O&P Patient-Centered Care Act, securing funding for O&P outcomes research, and other O&P priorities. NAAOP thanks OPGA for their close collaboration on this event and we look forward to amplifying our voice on O&P issues on Capitol Hill.

 

Thank you for your membership and support of NAAOP!