Letter to Prosthetists and Prosthetic Companies in MO

The following fundraising letter to Certified Prosthetists and Prosthetic Companies in Missouri was sent out Tuesday. I will be following up in the week to come.

[An alternative for those who wish to donate but cannot afford to give the recommended $250 or $2,000 for a company would be to pledge to raise the same amount. Prosthetists could raise $25 from ten friends or host an informational coffee night at their home. Prosthetic companies could host an open house and invite local doctors, therapists, politicians, and friends.]

Last year, the Missouri Coalition for People with Limb Loss (MCPLL) began its efforts to make sure your hard-working patients get the health insurance coverage they deserve. Now, we are asking for your help to guarantee that their voices get heard in the 2009 Missouri General Assembly.

You know better than anyone how ordinary people are being taken advantage of. They never imagined they would become amputees, but they did know they had health insurance for a reason: they paid into a system they thought would take care of them just in case a sudden trauma or unexpected diagnosis hit them out of the blue. You know that prosthetic coverage is not an unnecessary peripheral benefit, an extra, an add-on, or a luxury. Artificial arms and legs are the very things that health insurance exists to cover, because without them people cannot complete their rehabilitation from injury and amputation, and they cannot go back to work or lead an active, healthy lifestyle.

Prosthetic parity laws have now been enacted in eleven states, and all remaining thirty-nine states will file next year. Here in Missouri, we’ve already been through one trial run. During 2008 we learned the ropes, hired a fantastic lobbyist, testified at two hearings, and saw our bill pass out of the Senate Health Insurance Committee.

Now it’s time for everyone across the Show-Me State who genuinely cares about this issue to get involved. We are asking you to give $250 and for your company to give $2,000; check can be made payable to “Missouri Coalition for People with Limb Loss.” Every little bit helps, but these ballpark figures will help us reach our goal of $70,000 by January 1, 2009. Already we have more than 10% raised, and more has been pledged! These funds will go toward paying our lobbyist, Kent Gaines, as well as paying for letter-writing campaigns, publication of brochures and flyers, and trips to Jefferson City so that real amputees can meet with legislators. In the coming weeks, I will be contacting you to see if you are ready to join us in this cause.

Best wishes for your business and for the health of your patients,

Bill McLellan
Fundraising Chair
Missouri Coalition for People with Limb Loss
314-779-4641