The time is drawing closer and it is now more imperative than ever for the attention of the White House and Congress to be directed at Medicare. “We The People” is an online petition web page hosted on the White House website and is the newest way to get the government to listen about hot policy issues such as TENS! This is how it works, ANYONE can initiate a   petition about ANYTHING that is important to them. Once the petition  has 150 online signatures, it goes up on the White House website and is available to the public. Yes that’s right the White House website will be home to a petition about TENS coverage, but only if 150 signatures can be collected. THIS CAN BE DONE!!!

Click this link to sign the petition http://wh.gov/vVf  but be sure to go one step further and TWEET it, post it to your FACEBOOK page and EMAIL the link to people you know are outraged by what Medicare is trying to do.

Once enough signatures are garnered, the White House will ensure the appropriate policy officials begin addressing the concern of the petition. As the days until June 11th lessen it is extremely important to continue to alert members of Congress and the White House to this shocking step that Medicare wants to take and one that would leave this nation’s senior in serious pain!

Hey federal government STOP treating our seniors like lab rats! Did you know that in 26 days Medicare is proposing  an unprecedented move to revoke coverage of a well-established treatment for chronic low back pain and instead they will begin conducting “random clinical trials.” What does this mean, you ask? It means if you are senior and are currently treating your chronic low back pain with a transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation device (TENS) you will no longer be able to after June 11, 2012! However, if you are willing to be a lab rat and are selected to participate in one of the clinical trials you MIGHT get to use a TENS device or you might be using a “sham” or “fake” device. How many seniors will have to suffer through immense pain and discomfort before Medicare decides to stop experimenting? Studying and analyzing TENS devices is beneficial, but why revoke coverage to all seniors with Medicare in the meantime? Medicare seems to be relying on a handful of foreign studies among other things as a basis to justify their actions.

What are the options for Medicare patients with chronic low back pain?  If they don’t have access to TENS treatment, they will be forced to use expensive, addictive pain medications. Hey Medicare- NEWSFLASH- it’s the job of the FDA to approve treatments as safe and effective and TENS was approved decades ago!

 Tell this government run insurance company (CMS)that they do not know better than your physician.

@CMSGov keep your hands off #TENS seniors deserve the best from their #Medicare coverage go to http://tenscoverage.wordpress.com for more info

http://waysandmeans.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?view_id=2&clip_id=304 

Congressman Vern Buchanan (@VernBuchanan if you want to send him a tweet or post on his facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/CongressmanBuchanan) posed a great question to a CMS official at a Ways and Means Health subcommittee hearing.

“Why not continue coverage of TENS while the study is finalized?” GREAT question Mr. Congressman! The FDA has approved TENS for 30 years and now the Center for Medicaid and Medicare Services (CMS) is creating uncertainty for job creators in this industry and denying critical care for seniors! Reach out to CMS by tweeting them @CMSGov and let them know revoking TENS coverage is the wrong move!

Chairman of Government and Oversight Reform, Darrell Issa, has shown phenomenal leadership on the issue of TENS coverage. The Chairman points out in his letter that this is an UNPRECEDENTED move by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to revoke long-standing coverage of a treatment while further study is done.

TENS has  proven, for more than 30 years, to be an effective alternative to addictive and expensive pain medications and this hasty action taken by CMS puts the nations seniors at risk! Chronic low back pain (CLBP), as the Chairman points out in his letter, is one of the most common reoccurring problems among Medicare patients and CMS appears to be prepared to leave seniors “up the creek without a paddle” while they experiment in a lab.   LETS TELL THE GOVERNMENT TO STOP EXPERIMENTING WITH SENIORS LIVES!