Kristine McMahon advocates for her son Braden, but she doesn’t ask for anything special for him.
She just wants him to have what other children have: the ability to participate in a full range of activities.
“Life for him would be drastically improved if he had a device to help him run as fast as his peers and keep up while playing the many sports he plays, such as soccer, basketball, and ninja course,” Kristine wrote in this opinion-editorial for Colorado Newsline.
In Colorado, insurance companies are required to pay for a prosthetic limb for people to use for everyday mobility.
Kristine and others are advocating for legislation that would require those companies to cover the cost of a second prosthesis to be used for athletic activities if it is approved by the patient’s doctor and is medically indicated.
Requiring insurance coverage for two prostheses “is the compassionate and humane thing to do,” she wrote. “Access to a second prosthetic limb through insurance companies would improve the quality of life for so many living with limb differences.”