Nicole Ver Kuilen’s official title at the Amputee Coalition is “Director of Impact Campaigns.” However, a more descriptive title might be “insurance reform wrangler”—because that’s how she’ll be spending most of her time in her third straight year as national head of the So EveryBODY Can Move campaign.
SEBCM, as it’s known for short, is trying to broaden prosthetic insurance coverage for amputees all over the country, one state at a time. Years Zero through Two (2022-24) brought legislative wins in eight states overall, making hundreds of thousands of amputees newly eligible for recreational prosthetic devices through their insurer.
Bills have already been introduced in at least four states (Georgia, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Maryland) in the opening days of this year’s legislative cycle, and Ver Kuilen expects as many as 20 states to file SEBCM bills in 2025. That would double last year’s total, which ran to nine states by our count.
As usual, Amplitude will be tracking the action as it unfolds in the various statehouses throughout the spring and summer. We’ll unveil our 2025 legislative tracker in the next week or so. In the meantime, here’s a preview of what Ver Kuilen is anticipating over the next 150 or so days. To find out how you can support SEBCM advocacy in your own state, visit soeverybodycanmove.org.
Coming Back for Seconds
At least five states that are expected to introduce SEBCM bills in 2025 will be doing so for the second (or third) time. Indiana, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Tennessee, and Florida all filed bills in 2024 and made varying degrees of progress, passing the legislation through committees or (in some cases) full chambers of the legislature but falling short of full enactment. That type of momentum often carries over in subsequent years, Ver Kuilen says. “A lot of positive things can happen from a bill simply getting introduced,” she notes. “It becomes public record and people get familiar with it, so that makes it easier to come back the next year and keep working on it.” Of the states in this category, Massachusetts and New Jersey seem likeliest to move an SEBCM law to the governor’s desk in 2025.
Right Turn
“We really want to see some success this year in red-leaning states,” Ver Kuilen says. Of the eight states that have passed SEBCM so far, seven voted Democratic in every presidential election since 2008. Arkansas is the lone red-voting state to enact SEBCM legislation to this point, but Ver Kuilen sees big opportunities to add to that total year in 2025. “I’m incredibly impressed with the team that has been created in Georgia,” she says. “If we were to get something enacted in Georgia, that would be a huge win for the movement. Same thing for Tennessee, Florida and Ohio. That’s where we really want to see success this year.”
Money Talks
One of the most persuasive arguments in favor of SEBCM has nothing to do with health equity, disability rights, or basic fairness. It boils down to this: Investing in amputees’ mobility decreases overall healthcare spending by hundreds of millions of dollars. It’s the same principal that led Medicare to expand coverage for microprocessor knees: Active amputees stay healthier for longer, and therefore require fewer costly treatments. For the third straight year, SEBCM advocates have commissioned a fiscal analysis to quantify exactly how much various states can save. Those figures helped turn skeptical legislators into enthusiastic supporters of prosthetic insurance reform in multiple states. When the most recent analysis gets published, we’ll share the findings and let you check the math.
Enlarging the Tent
“Expanding beyond O&P is one of our strategies for 2025,” Ver Kuilen says. The SEBCM alliance (which currently includes the Amputee Coalition and three O&P professional associations) plans to solicit more active support from major employers, public health experts, and other allies who share the goal of empowering patients and reducing costs. “We’re also adding a community seat to our steering committee,” adds Ver Kuilen, “and that seat will be for a person who’s living with limb loss or limb difference. We’re also creating a vision council, which ties into that.” If you’re interested in joining SEBCM’s leadership team, keep an eye on our newsletter and socials—Amplitude will share information on how to apply as soon as it’s available.
Get In on the Action
“We always need amputees to show up and share their narrative with lawmakers,” Ver Kuilen says. “We’re changing our messaging a little bit in red-leaning states to focus more on the fiscal impact, but we are still trying to lead with a message of independence, fairness, and basic human dignity. When advocates tell their stories in such a powerful way, it really showcases how this legislation impacts individuals’ lives.” That sort of storytelling might make the difference between success and failure in states such as Georgia, Ohio, and Tennessee. “Those would be big wins,” says ver Kuilen. “That’s where we want to double down in our resources and really support those states.”
To find out how you can help SEBCM pass in your state, visit soeverybodycanmove.org.
