As the New York City Marathon Celebrates the Power of Running, New Documentary Asks Who Gets Access to the Medical Care to Run

September 23, 2026

Not Medically Necessary, presented by So Every BODY Can Move and film screening sponsored by Salomon, will screen in New York City on October 29, bringing athletes, advocates and clinicians together to examine the fight for access to activity-specific prosthetic devices

NEW YORK (September 23, 2026) /OUTDOOR SPORTSWIRE/ — The New York City Marathon is a celebration of what the human body can do. But for many runners living with limb loss or limb difference, getting to the starting line can require fighting a very different race: a battle with their insurance company for access to the medical care that allows them to run.

That story is at the center of “Not Medically Necessary”, a new short documentary presented by So Every BODY Can Move and produced by Vignette, which will be premiering in New York City on Thursday, October 29, during NYC Marathon week, with support from Salomon.

The film brings together people with limb loss and limb difference, clinicians, athletes and advocates to examine a healthcare system that may cover a prosthesis that allows someone to walk, while denying the activity-specific prostheses that allows that same person to run, bike, swim or participate fully in their lives.

Following the screening, a panel discussion moderated by Salomon Para Athletes Nicole Ver Kuilen, So Every BODY Can Move National Campaign Lead and Dani Aravich, three-time U.S. Paralympian and So Every BODY Can Move National Media Relations Lead, will explore why these devices are necessary, how insurance coverage currently falls short and what advocates are doing to change the system.

The conversation comes at a significant moment for running and para sport. With the 2028 Paralympic Games coming to Los Angeles, more attention than ever will be focused on the athletes competing at the highest levels of adaptive sport. But elite para athletes don’t appear at the starting line fully formed. They need access to medical care, equipment, training and opportunities to participate long before they become Paralympians.

“The technology exists. The medical care exists. What too often doesn’t exist is the coverage to access it,” said Nicole Ver Kuilen, So Every BODY Can Move National Campaign Lead and Salomon Para Athlete. “Who gets to decide whether a person with a disability gets to run, play, compete or simply participate in their community? Today, that decision comes down to outdated insurance policies that restrict access to the disability community. Physical activity is a right, not a privilege, and every disabled person – whether you are a Paralympian, a child, or a weekend warrior – deserves access to the medical care they need to live full, active lives.”

A prosthesis to walk isn’t necessarily a prosthesis to run

For an amputee runner, the equipment required to run can look dramatically different from the prosthesis used for everyday mobility.

Running-specific prosthetic components are designed to absorb and return energy, withstand the forces of running and allow athletes to move efficiently. They can also be expensive—and many insurance plans have historically treated these devices as outside the scope of what is “medically necessary.”

That distinction can create an impossible choice: be able to walk, or pay out-of-pocket (often in the tens of thousands of dollars) for the opportunity to run.

Not Medically Necessary documents the people challenging that assumption.

The film follows individuals whose lives have been shaped by limb loss and limb difference, as well as the clinicians working to provide the care their patients need. Their stories reveal the gap between what modern prosthetic technology and care can make possible and what insurance coverage will actually support.

For So Every BODY Can Move, closing that gap means modernizing insurance coverage—not simply asking for more coverage, but recognizing that physical activity, employment, bathing and other aspects of daily life are part of total well-being.

From the starting line to state legislatures

So Every BODY Can Move is working to change that standard through legislation across the country.

The disability rights initiative has set a goal of enacting legislation in 28 states ahead of the 2028 Los Angeles Paralympic Games, ensuring people with limb loss and limb difference can access activity-specific prosthetic and orthotic devices regardless of their ZIP code or insurance plan. The grassroots movement has already enacted legislation in 15 states in just four years and introduced legislation in 36 of the 50 states in America.

The movement is rooted in a straightforward belief:

Physical activity is a right, not a privilege.

The NYC screening of Not Medically Necessary is designed to bring that message into one of the world’s most visible running communities.

For one weekend, New York will celebrate tens of thousands of people pushing their bodies to their limits through the five boroughs. The film asks audiences to consider what happens when the ability to participate in that same activity is determined not by an individual’s desire, talent or commitment—but by whether an insurance company considers the equipment necessary.

As the road to LA28 accelerates, So Every BODY Can Move believes access to physical activity must be part of the conversation about the future of para sport.

Because the next generation of Paralympians needs more than a starting line.

They need a way to get there.

SCREENING & PANEL

Film: Not Medically Necessary
Date: Thursday, October 29, 2026
Location: New York City
Presented by: So Every BODY Can Move

Film funded by: American Board for Certification in Orthotics, Prosthetics & Pedorthics

Film screening sponsored by: Salomon

Produced by: Vignette

Panel Moderators: Dani Aravich, three-time U.S. Paralympian & Nicole Ver Kuilen, So Every BODY Can Move National Campaign Lead
Panel: Paralympian Ali Truwit, Peloton’s Logan Aldridge, CUNY’s Ryan Martin

Speaker: Marie Accambray, Director of the Salomon Foundation

Additional screening and panel details available upon request.

About Not Medically Necessary

Not Medically Necessary is a short documentary exploring what happens when a healthcare system denies access to activity-specific devices for people living with limb loss and limb difference.

Through intimate interviews and personal footage from athletes, patients, clinicians and advocates, the film examines the gap between the technology that exists and the coverage people can access. It follows a growing grassroots movement fighting to ensure that running, swimming, cycling, hiking, playing sports and other forms of physical activity are not treated as luxuries.

About So Every BODY Can Move

So Every BODY Can Move is a national movement advocating for legislation that modernizes insurance coverage of activity-specific prosthetic and orthotic care. Rooted in the belief that physical activity is a right, not a privilege, the organization is working toward legislation in 28 states ahead of the 2028 Los Angeles Paralympic Games.

The movement brings together people with limb loss and limb difference, clinicians, athletes, advocates and organizations to raise the standard of care so people can access the devices they need for physical activity, employment, bathing and total well-being.

About Vignette

Vignette is a documentary production company and creative agency based in Seattle. Gary Matoso started the company in 2011 after a long stint as a photojournalist, bringing together a team of like-minded creatives to tell impactful stories of real people. Vignette works across media, creating photo, short-form, and feature-length stories. Learn more at storyiseverything.com

Media Contact:
Dani Aravich
So Every BODY Can Move
dbaravich@gmail.com
208-954-4884