Texas approves budgetary increase for TBI treatment
It used to be that Texas residents who suffered a traumatic brain or spinal cord injury, the wait for services could exceed two months, and has since its inception in 1992. Experts in the system say that it’s critical to get therapy when the brain is still repairing itself, which typically takes six months to two years post injury. This year the Texas Legislature approved an additional $3 million per year for the state program, Comprehensive Rehabilitation Services, for people with brain and spinal cord injuries. It provides inpatient and outpatient therapies designed to help people learn to live independently. As a result of the budgetary increase the wait list has disappeared and the Texas Department of Assistive and Rehabilitative Services is trying to inform the needful that space is available. About 145,000 Texans suffer traumatic brain injuries each year according to the Texas Brain Injury Association’s president, Eric Makowski. Eighty-eight percent of people who go through the state program go on to live at home, said a program specialist with the state agency. The average person's treatment costs $44,000. In the new increase the state will pick up the tab in some cases and in others they are asked to pay on a sliding scale according to their financial means.
