Young amputee urges committee to require insurers to cover sports prosthetics; committee passes coverage resolution

The House Committee on Consumer Protection & Commerce on April 1 voted to pass HCR91 and HR87, measures requesting health insurers and managed care providers offering coverage in the state to provide insurance coverage for prosthetic and orthotic devices.

Testimony at the hearing included a personal account from Meg Severn, who said she is a 14-year-old amputee and a local representative of the group So Everybody Can Move. Severn described losing her leg to a rare cancerous bone tumor two years earlier and told the committee that insurers had classified a running prosthetic as not medically necessary because it is not required for walking. "Insurance companies say it is only medically necessary for me to be able to walk, therefore, only providing a walking prosthetic," Severn said. She described relying on charitable assistance to participate in sports and said eight states already have passed similar laws allowing broader prosthetic coverage.

Severn urged the committee to support the measure, saying the proposal is meant to help people with limb loss or limb difference "thrive, not just survive," and to promote physical and mental health. The committee adopted the recommendation to pass the resolutions as is; the measure requests insurers consider coverage changes and would not itself change insurance law without follow-up legislation or rulemaking.

No formal cost estimates or specific plan details were offered at the hearing; the testimony focused on patient experience and equity in access to sports-capable prosthetic devices.