Air Date: Thursday, November 10, 2005
Standing Strong
Standing strong for the health benefits that keep her on her feet. A young amputee goes to Beacon Hill to battle health insurance companies. The growing 7-year-old needs a new prosthetic leg each year to keep her out of a wheelchair. Insurance only covers a small percentage of the costs.
7's Dr. Deanna Lites has more.
Seven-year-old Lucy Coombs is at the State House. But this Somerville second-grader isn't on a field trip she's there on a mission. She's hoping to increase the amount of money private insurers pay for prosthetic devices.
Lucy has had an artificial leg since she was 2. Now because she's is growing, the device needs to be replaced every year.
Bob Coombs, Lucy's father, says, "Lucy's current prosthetic costs over 10,000 dollars."
Their Insurance will only cover a quarter of the costs. The Coombs are asking state lawmakers to pass a proposal that would require private health insurance plans to cover 80 percent of the cost.
Bob Coombs says without the device, "She would be disabled, wheelchair bound or restricted to a walker."
Representative Robert Hargraves of Groton who lost his arm years ago supports the bill.
Rep. Hargraves says, "The loss of an arm isn't a fraction of what it is to lose a leg because the loss of an arm like I have I'm totally mobile."
The Coombs family hopes by telling their story they will help Lucy and other amputees as well.
All we've ever hoped for is that she can go to school and play and have fun and do everything that all our children want to do.
There are about three thousand amputees in Massachusetts. This isn't the first time this issue has been brought to the attention of lawmakers. It's been filed twice in the last three years and died both times.
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