A Maryland prosthetics company pushing a new federal bill that would broaden insurance coverage for its products -- and boost its bottom line -- has enlisted significant political support from two of South Florida's most prominent members of Congress.

Congressmen Lincoln and Mario Diaz-Balart are among the bill's key backers. At the same time, the company is backing their reelection bids.

Hanger Orthopedic Group's political action committee and its executives provided more than $10,000 in campaign contributions to the brothers in the weeks before they co-sponsored the prosthetics parity bill on March 13.

The company's lobbyists, paid $130,000 to push the issue since last summer, went further: They helped raise campaign money for several bill sponsors, including the Republican Diaz-Balarts in March and April as they face Democratic challengers.

Lincoln Diaz-Balart, whose campaign collected $7,100 from Hanger's PAC and executives through March, said he is a ''proud'' bill sponsor.

''I will continue to fight for those in need of prosthetics,'' said the senior member of the powerful Rules Committee, who declined to be interviewed but provided written replies. ``There is a clear and adhered-to fire wall between my legislative work and fundraising for the campaign.''

Representing parts of Miami-Dade and southwest Broward counties, Lincoln faces former Hialeah Mayor Raul Martinez.

Younger brother Mario faces former Miami-Dade Democratic Party chairman Joe Garcia in a district spanning the Everglades from west Miami to Naples.

''You better believe I am a co-sponsor of a bipartisan bill to cover prosthetics for 1.8 million Americans without limbs including children and veterans!'' wrote Mario Diaz-Balart, whose campaign got $3,000 from the PAC.

Hanger is supporting key bill backers across the country. Rep. Robert Andrews, D-N.J., who introduced the bill, received $5,000 from Hanger's PAC for his primary campaign for a New Jersey Senate seat.

The Diaz-Balarts, traditionally not healthcare leaders on Capitol Hill, stand out from the bill's three other original co-sponsors. Not only was Hanger's PAC more generous to their campaigns, neither brother is on the Committee on Education and Labor where the bill was referred.

Lincoln, too, has another unique tie to Hanger.

Last fall, the company and Lincoln launched a mission to provide artificial limbs for Ukrainian children. The trip to Florida earned public goodwill for the politician -- and gave the publicly traded company a chance to highlight the bill.

The Diaz-Balarts say they are firmly behind providing better coverage for those needing prosthetic devices.

''It's the moral thing to do,'' Mario Diaz-Balart wrote.

Yet the ties between politicians and Hanger are so tight, say public watchdogs asked about the arrangement, they appear almost like partners.

''Members are here to serve the public interest and not the interests of a private corporation,'' said Melanie Sloan, executive director of the Washington nonprofit Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics.

Headquartered in Bethesda, Md., Hanger bills itself as the nation's leading provider of orthotic and prosthetic patient-care services. It has 653 care centers, including three in Broward and one in Miami-Dade, and 2007 revenues of $637 million.

BROADER COVERAGE

If approved next year, the Group Health Plan Prosthetics Parity Act, HR 5615, would require insurance companies to provide much broader coverage of artificial limbs, breasts and other prosthetic devices -- on par with other medical coverage. Today, benefits in that $2.5 billion market are often capped.

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