Advancing HBOT Access for Veterans: Missouri Momentum and Kansas on the Horizon

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This week marked another important step forward in our mission to ensure veterans and first responders have access to proven, evidence-based care for traumatic brain injury (TBI) and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
Dale Lutzen, Help Our Heroes Policy and Legislative Advocate, Eapen Thampy, Lobbyist, and Blake Richardson, Help Our Heroes Founder, met with Missouri Senator Rusty Black in Chillicothe, Missouri to discuss next steps in securing funding support for hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) under Missouri HB 262.

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Why This Meeting Matters
Missouri HB 262 created a pathway for veterans to access HBOT as a treatment option for TBI and PTSD. The critical next phase is ensuring sustainable funding so eligible Missouri veterans can actually receive care—without delay, financial burden, or unnecessary barriers.
Our discussion with Senator Black focused on:

• The urgent need for effective treatments that address the root cause of brain injuries, including HBOT and Ibogaine
• The growing body of clinical research supporting HBOT for neurological injury
• The cost-benefit case of funding care that improves outcomes and reduces long-term healthcare utilization
• Real-world outcomes from veterans who have experienced meaningful recovery through HBOT and Ibogaine

We are encouraged by the continued openness and engagement from Missouri leadership and will be meeting with additional Missouri legislators in the coming weeks to broaden support and move funding conversations forward.

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Looking Ahead: Kansas Legislative Efforts
Momentum is also building just across the state line.

Next week, we will be meeting with Kansas legislators to lock in a sponsor and co-sponsor(s) for a Kansas-based HBOT bill. This legislation will aim to make HBOT accessible not only to veterans, but also to first responders who are disproportionately impacted by brain wounds specific to TBI and PTSD.

Our goal is straitforward:

• Expand access to evidence-based brain health therapies, starting with HBOT.
• Reduce reliance on symptom-management-only approaches
• Provide veterans and first responders with real options for healing

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A Broader Vision for Veteran Brain Health
Across the country, states are recognizing that the status quo is not enough. Veterans and first responders deserve access to treatments supported by decades of research, objective data, and lived experiences.

At Help Our Heroes, we remain committed to:

• Educating policymakers
• Connecting and working with the pioneers within the modalities identified at mitigating the root cause of TBI, PTSD, CTE, and other similar brain wounds
• Advocating for funding models that prioritize outcomes and accountability
• Ensuring those who served have access to the care they need to truly recover.

Missouri is moving forward. Kansas is next. And this work will continue, state-by-state, until access to effective brain wound care is the norm, not the exception.

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Evidence-Based Research Supporting HBOT for TBI & PTSD
The following peer-reviewed studies and authoritative sources informed and support our advocacy efforts: ​Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy
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