When Representative Gabrielle Giffords was shot in the head on January 8, 2011, her future looked grim. But she got the best treatment available, and is doing quite well. In fact, according to an article on CronkiteNewsOnline.com:

Rep. Gabrielle Giffords’ attending physician called the Arizona congresswoman’s recovery “ideal” and “typical for those who have the ability and access to the right resources” to recuperate from a debilitating injury.

But not everyone has those resources, said Dr. Gerard Francisco during a congressional briefing in Washington on Thursday [June 23, 2011] to support rehabilitation in America’s health care system.

According to Giffords’ doctor, Giffords stayed 4 months in the hospital, but not everyone can stay that long because of insurance limitations…and that she was allowed 4 months in-patient treatment because she is a public figure. In most hospitals, an individual with Giffords’ type of injury would be sent home after less than a month as an in-patient.

“Many people now do not have the appreciation for how brain injury rehabilitation has to be done,” Francisco said. “Unfortunately, we have had to take a lot of shortcuts in the past decade, when patients stay for under a month.”

If there is any good to come from this tragic shooting, perhaps it might be the start of a national discussion and change in how health insurance deals with the rehabilitation of people with brain injuries.

To read the full article, click here:  Giffords’ recovery praised by doctor, who tells Washington to support rehab