Baldiness.com awards Heidi Bratt: This week Baldiness.com honors Heidi Bratt, a Massachusetts resident who’s advocating for alopecia sufferers. Bratt, who has alopecia herself, has been lobbying to get wigs covered by health insurance providers for the last 10 years. Because of her efforts, a state law in in the works, but she has already had a great deal of success. Get this: She has had a hand in persuading the state’s three largest insurers to ADD coverage for wigs to alopecia areata sufferers. That’s right: Adding coverage in a time when health costs are skyrocketing and coverages are being reduced.

“I also find I have to fight for what I believe in. I have very strong feelings on the matter. I hope the federal bill gets passed someday and [all people with alopecia] are insured. It’s not right that people have to pay out of their own pocket.”

Hats off, Heidi!
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NEWSLETTER for Alopecia Areata:

HEIDI BRATT speaks out to help others
with Alopecia Areata

Heidi advocates on behalf of people with disease.

For the more than 4.5 million people throughout the nation that have Alopecia Areata, a disease that can cause severe hair loss, wigs can be vitally important accessories. But for the thousands of residents in the Commonwealth who have the disease, insurance does not cover the cost of wigs. That’s why Heidi Bratt, a member of a local nursing home's housekeeping department, has been petitioning state lawmakers to make the wigs a covered item.

Heidi, who has the disease herself and wears a wig, belongs to a Boston-based Alopecia Areata support group. She and a core group of 15 people have been working for five years to get state legislators, through the Ways and Means Committee, to pass a bill requiring insurers to pay for wigs. While the group has made some inroads, to date there has been no official action on the legislation.

But that has not deterred Heidi. “I’ve been a fighter my whole life,” she says. “I feel I got this disease for a reason—to fight for new laws and help people who have the disease.”

Heidi has also spoken at National Alopecia Areata Foundation conferences. The organization funds medical research, raises public consciousness about the disease, and provides support and resources for people with the condition. The disease is not medically disabling. It is often hereditary. Some people experience intermittent hair loss, while others have extensive loss. In some cases, people with the disease can re-grow their hair.

Heidi says that many people know that she has Alopecia (and many more will know after this story is published), and they have been supportive. She is not embarrassed to share her story because she feels it is important to get the word out.


Heidi Bratt