"This Friday, I spent the day with a number of our district’s first responders – county emergency coordinators, law enforcement officers, and firefighters – those who bear the burden of what I call hometown security, and I can tell you that while they are mentally and physically prepared for the everyday challenge of responding to emergencies, they need help from the federal government in taking on the added responsibility of responding to chemical, biological, or other possible terrorist attacks.

"That’s why just recently; I introduced the Rural Firefighter Equipment Priority Act, HR 1311, to help our rural firefighters get the equipment they need to better respond to emergencies.  There are hundreds of volunteer fire departments in our district, and they have a lot of people to take care of.  I want to make sure they have the resources they need to fight fires, save lives, and protect property.

"My bill will give rural and volunteer fire departments high priority when excess federal property from the Department of Defense is available.  This property could be anything from nuts and bolts to trucks – equipment our rural firefighters need to do their jobs.  It costs our government nothing, and it will protect what we value most; our lives and the lives of those we love."

“For the past few years, Arkansans have known the benefits of the Morgan Nick Alert, a similar system that puts the entire state on watch for missing children and their abductors,” Ross said.  “The National AMBER Alert Network will extend that safety net to the entire country.  Think about it; we rely on alerts from the National Weather Service to keep us prepared for tornadoes.  The same weather alert is issued on a multi-state level, wherever the danger exists.  Tornadoes don’t stop at state lines, and neither do child abductors.

“The first few hours after a child goes missing are critical.  Think about how far you can drive in an hour – in twenty-four hours, a kidnapper could be two states away.  With the nationwide AMBER Alert system, the alerts would follow that kidnapper, and no matter where they turned, people like you and me would be on the lookout to help return that child to his or her family.”

In addition to creating a national alert system, the proposal will provide states and localities with grants for communications improvements to stop child kidnappers from escaping simply by traveling outside the reach of radio and TV broadcasts.

To learn more about the AMBER Alert and how to protect your child, visit the website for the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, www.missingkids.com.

“Insurance companies often don’t differentiate between surgeries that are reconstructive and those that are cosmetic,” Ross said.  “Unfortunately, for those suffering from rare diseases or conditions which require rare procedures, falling into the wrong category means denial of coverage for their medical needs.” 

Ross was inspired to draft the bill by a constituent, Wendelyn Osborne.  The Arkadelphia native was the 16th person ever documented with the rare bone disease, Craniometaphyseal Dysplasia, which causes an overgrowth of her craniofacial bone that never deteriorates.  Now in her mid-thirties, Wendelyn had her first of 14 surgeries when she was 6 years old and was not expected to live to adulthood.  Her condition requires these periodic surgeries to correct the growth and abnormalities caused by the disease.  She is currently in need of another orthognathic surgery.

Unfortunately, Wendelyn has had to fight for any type of disease-related procedure as well as getting access to “qualified” physicians.  Most insurance plans do not recognize congenital conditions such as hers, and those that do generally have an age limitation.  These plans often stop covering congenital conditions once the beneficiary has passed age 21, whereas the congenital condition never goes away.  Wendelyn’s condition is rare, but her experience in seeking care is not. 

“I have fought a very hard battle and have no more avenues to take,” wrote Wendelyn in a June 2001 letter to Ross.  “At this time, my insurance policy covers congenital conditions through the age of 12.  When you are born with a congenital condition, most likely you’ll die with it.  I feel as if I’m being punished for being born with a rare disease.”

Ross has worked with Wendelyn on this bill over the past two years, offering up legislation in 2002.  Last fall she visited Washington to lobby for her cause, and she recently met with musical artist Cher about Cher's work with the Children's Craniofacial Association.  This summer, the Children’s Craniofacial Association will meet in Washington in an effort to promote the Reconstructive Surgery Act.

Wendelyn has spearheaded a campaign on the state level as well, and has worked with Arkansas State Rep. Tommy Roebuck (D-Arkadelphia) on a bill to address the need for the change in insurance companies' description of procedures.   On Friday, Wendelyn will travel to Little Rock to testify on the bill’s behalf before the House Insurance and Commerce Committee. 

“Wendelyn suffers from a rare disease, but she joins countless others in suffering from a lack of coverage for what is medically necessary for her survival,” Ross said.  “To classify surgeries that would allow her to eat normally as ‘cosmetic’ is unacceptable.  The Reconstructive Surgery Act of 2003 will ensure that people like Wendelyn whose needs are simply misunderstood or mislabeled are taken care of.” 

The bill defines medically necessary reconstructive surgery as surgery “performed to correct or repair abnormal structures of the body caused by congenital defects, developmental abnormalities, trauma, infections, tumors, or disease, to: (1) improve functions; or (2) give the patient a normal appearance, to the extent possible, in the judgment of the physician performing the surgery.  It specifically excludes “cosmetic” procedures defined as “surgery that is performed to alter or reshape normal structures of the body in order to improve appearance.”

Examples of medically necessary procedures that would be covered under this legislation include:  injuries from accidents, cleft lips and palates, burns, skull deformities, benign tumors, vascular lesions, missing pectoral muscles that cause chest deformities, Crouson’s syndrome (failure of the mid-face to develop normally), and others.

The Reconstructive Surgery Act of 2003 has been endorsed by the National Organization for Rare Disorders, National Foundation for Facial Reconstruction, Easter Seals, and the March of Dimes.

Photo: Wendelyn Osborne of Arkadelphia with Ross at the U.S. Capitol in June of 2002.