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Upcoming Events
February 5-7: Los Angeles Abilities Expo
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Take Control of Your Pain: Palm Springs
When: Thursday, February 18
Time: 1-6 PM
Where: Renaissance Palm Springs Hotel
FREE to Attend!
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Suffer from Chronic Back Pain?
This Trial May Be For You!
Curative Orthopaedics, a company founded by a young chronic pain sufferer, has developed a new therapeutic garment, Back2Sleep™, to help ease nighttime back pain.
Currently, Curative Orthopaedics is in the process of on-boarding trial participants for a comprehensive study that will analyze the benefits of their Back2Sleep product as it relates to sleep quality and the healing process.
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Join U.S. Pain Foundation and partnering organizations in a New Campaign!
New York patients and providers have declared this month as Fail First February, a month long initiative that will highlight the problems caused by insurer's protocol and the need to pass S. 3419A/A.2834A. Those Pain Ambassador Advocates residing in New York will be called upon by U.S. Pain to partake in a grassroots effort, scheduling meetings or phone calls to explain fail first (step therapy) practices and the harm it can cause to chronic pain patients and/ or those living with rare diseases.
Stay tuned as Fail First February will include a social media campaign that any Advocate or member can join!
Please FOLLOW the organization on Twitter today:
@US_Pain
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Dear Members and Fellow Pain Warriors,
It seems no matter where you live, unusual climate has been in the forecast. For those who have been bombarded with rain, sleet, snow and icy conditions, know those at U.S. Pain Foundation are thinking of you. Please stay indoors, be safe and stay warm.
The first month of this year has been a busy one for U.S Pain Foundation! We have been hard at work advocating and empowering all pain warriors throughout the country. It still amazes me how much the organization has grown in five years.
I founded U.S. Pain because
there was no organization or group out there serving people like myself. It was important to me that there was an organization focused on the patient perspective: patients helping patients.
We started small - with local support groups and grassroots outreach. Now, U.S. Pain is nationally recognized as the leading source of information, advocacy and education not only for the pain community, but rather for all people with chronic illness.
With such growth, we wanted to improve our website; and so that is exactly what we did! I am very excited to announce the launch of our newly revamped, engaging design. Our goal was to make sure you - the pain warrior - could easily find the information, support and resources you need. We exceeded our expectations. The site is user-friendly and innovative. I am so proud of it, and hope you visit the site soon and share it with your network.
We are looking forward to continue working throughout the year to help enrich the lives of every one of you and provide access to the tools necessary to fight chronic pain.
Thank you for being a part of our mission - to improve the lives of those living with pain by validating chronic medical conditions and educating others. You are all pain warriors, and U.S. Pain is here to help.
Wishing you all a low-pain and high-spirits day,
Paul Gileno
Founder & President, U.S. Pain Foundation
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U.S. Pain Foundation Announces Launch of New Website
An Innovative and More Interactive Platform for the Pain Community is Now Live
With the growth of the organization's programs, team members and volunteers, U.S. Pain Foundation's Board of Directors is pleased to launch the organization's new and improved website. This new interface has an engaging new design to make each section more user-friendly.
"We are excited to provide pain warriors, caregivers, healthcare professionals and others with this innovative means of finding resources, information and hope," says Founder and President of U.S. Pain, Paul Gileno. "The launch of the new site signifies our successful progression as the leading patient-advocacy organization for the pain community."
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U.S. Pain is Making Waves in Indiana for Patients to Access Treatments Without Delay
Over the past few weeks, U.S. Pain has been working closely with members of the Indiana Step Therapy Coalition, of which it is a member, to support legislation aimed at providing transparent steps clinicians can take to override the insurer's cost saving practice known as step therapy.
Senate Bill 41, a bill proposed by Senator Michael Crider, passed out of Senate on Monday. To show U.S. Pain's support for the bill, U.S. Pain Ambassador Advocate Juliana Capshew testified before the Senate Health and Provider Services committee. She shared her pain journey and unfortunate experience with step therapy.
You can read an article recently written by the National Pain Report for further insight into this advocacy effort
Here.
Other Advocacy Efforts Across the Country
- In Florida, SB 1142 (HB 915) was heard by the Senate Banking & Insurance Committee. We received the emails that you submitted to members of the Senate Banking and Insurance Committee. We tracked those who Retweeted our Twitter posts about Senate Bill 1142 or copied and pasted the suggested tweets for chronic pain warriors. Those efforts were proven successful after Monday, the majority of the committee voted favorably towards the Patient Stability Act.
The meeting of SB 1142 did receive opposition from insurers, who felt that their ability to contract with various vendors would be impeded upon as the result of this legislation. The proposed legislation is aimed to stop non-medical switching, a cost saving practice by insurers or pharmacy benefit managers which forces a stable patient off of his or her treatment. The favorable outcome is due to the successful outreach we witnessed from Pain Ambassador Advocates who made phone calls and submitted emails to committee members. U.S. Pain will keep you updated as to the next steps that should be taken on our end. Thank you for your handwork and for making a positive difference in the Floridian pain community.
- Also in Florida, U.S. Pain wishes to thank members of Florida's Senate Banking & Insurance Committee for supporting and continuing to champion Senate Bill 1084 by President Don Gaetz. We received word from organizers of the Patient access for Florida, of which U.S. Pain is a member, that Senate Bill 1084 unanimously passed by the Senate Health Policy!
This bill, the
"Right Medicine Right Time Act," is requiring a managed care plan, an insurer, and a health maintenance organization to establish a process by which a prescribing physician may request an override of certain restrictions in certain circumstances; providing the circumstances under which an override must be granted; defining the term "fail-first protocol"; prohibiting a health maintenance organization from requiring that a health care provider use a clinical decision support system or a laboratory benefits management program in certain circumstances, etc.
- In Missouri, House Bill 2029, (relating to step therapy) sponsored by Representative Denny Hoskins, was heard recently by the House Health and Mental Health Policy Committee. The committee does not vote on a bill until the following week. Because of this, Pain Ambassador Advocates have been asked to speak with committee members, tanking them for hearing testimony given on the bill and request their support when the bill comes to a vote.
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Rare Diseases Day February 29, 2016: The Patient's Voice
The U.S. Pain Foundation is proud to be partnering with the National Organization for Rare Diseases (NORD) for this year'
s Rare Diseases Day. On February 29, 2016, people living with or affected by a rare disease, patient organizations, politicians, caregivers, medical professionals, researchers and industry will come together in solidarity to raise awareness of rare diseases.
The theme in
2016 is the Patient's Voice. That being said, we need YOU to help educate the world about your rare disease. Your voice is one of experience and is truly educational to those who are interested in learning. There are various ways you can participate in Rare Diseases Day, please consider one of the following: hosting an event where you discuss your rare disease, share flyers about your disease, take to social media to share your life with your disease. If you are interested in hosting or participating in an event, please contact Keith Voelker ([email protected]). Additionally,
you can visit the
Rare Diseases Day website to find an event near you.
Alone we are rare, together we are strong!
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