Legislator Talking Points for Senate Bill 423

1. Athletic Trainers are fully qualified, certified, and licensed health care professionals.
2. Athletic Trainers are currently denied reimbursement from insurance companies for rehabilitative services they are fully qualified to provide.
3. SB423 is not an insurance mandate. It is legislation to provide athletic trainers with fair practice and equal access to insurance reimbursement for those treatment and rehabilitative services, within the scope of practice for athletic trainers, which are already being rendered by and reimbursed to some other provider. The legislation is not asking for expanded coverage of medical services or health insurance dollars beyond that of recognizing athletic trainers as reimbursable providers of rehabilitative services.
4. SB 423 is about allowing physicians the right to choose the service provider they feel most appropriate to meet their individual patient‚s needs.
5. Qualifying for health insurance reimbursement will expand the employment opportunities for Athletic Trainer‚s within the state of New Hampshire. New Hampshire clearly supports athletic training as evidenced by the five accredited athletic training education programs at four of the state‚s colleges and universities.
6. Expanded opportunities for the employment of athletic trainers in clinic outreach settings provides a valuable service to schools that would otherwise be unable to afford hiring an athletic trainer. This also has the potential to save health care dollars by avoiding unnecessary emergency room visits and referrals by having a qualified professional available to provide medical services on site.
7. Students, consider emphasizing the importance of professional equity, respect and recognition of athletic training services and the possibility of expanded job opportunities for you as an athletic trainer within the state of New Hampshire.