House Bill 1311 requires coverage of up to $40,000 annually for kids through age 18. It restricts health carriers from refusing to issue or renew coverage solely because a child has autism.

The coverage includes applied behavioral analysis therapy, or ABA. Insurance companies in Missouri typically do not cover ABA, which many experts describe as the most effective therapy to help children with autism develop social and communication skills.

The Center for Autism Education in O’Fallon provides ABA and other services for children on the spectrum. Amy Buie, the center’s executive director, said many families cannot afford ABA, which requires a board-certified behavior analyst. The therapy costs $80-$150 per hour, Buie said.

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Missouri lawmakers gave final approval Wednesday to legislation requiring group insurance policies regulated by the state to cover up to $40,000 a year of behavioral therapy for autistic children through age 18.

Gov. Jay Nixon is expected to sign the mandate, adding Missouri to a growing list of states that have enacted autism insurance laws within the past several years.

“It’s just a wonderful thing,” said Molly Schad, her voice cracking with emotion, as she celebrated passage of the legislation with other parents of autistic children.

“It would give each child an opportunity to get to their potential, to make them as independent as they can be,” added Schad, of St. Charles, who spent the past three years urging lawmakers to mandate autism insurance coverage.

The bill passed the House 144-16 and the Senate 27-6.

Autism is a broad term used to describe a spectrum of neurological disorders that affect about 1 out of 110 children in the United States, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Children with autism often have problems with communication, behavior and social skills.

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That could change, if some Missouri legislators have their way. On Wednesday, the state Senate gave initial approval to a bill that would require health insurance companies to provide autism coverage to employees covered under a company’s heath insurance.

State Sen. Scott Rupp, R-Wentzville, has been seeking to make health insurance providers provide treatment and early diagnosis for autism. He sponsored the bill that would allow individuals under the age of 21, under certain conditions, up to $55,000 in coverage per year.

“Sen. Rupp is a hero to those of us who are directly impacted by autism,” said Jamie Bachman, president of the Autism Alliance of

Northwest Missouri. “I stand in amazement at his knowledge and commitment to Missouri’s children, especially considering that he has absolutely no ties to autism.”

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A bill requiring coverage of autism treatments breezed through the state Senate but failed in the House earlier this year. In an appearance here at an autism clinic affiliated with the University of Missouri, Nixon said the legislation couldn’t wait any longer.

“A bill that guarantees that insurance providers will cover the most effective treatments for autism must pass this (upcoming) legislative session and it must include substantial provisions that make real differences for real families,” Nixon said.

He also visited Children’s Mercy Hospital in Kansas City and an autism center in St. Louis.

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A bill requiring coverage of autism treatments breezed through the state Senate but failed in the House earlier this year.

“A bill that guarantees that insurance providers will cover the most effective treatments for autism must pass this (upcoming) legislative session, and it must include substantial provisions that make real differences for real families,” Nixon said in an appearance at an autism clinic affiliated with the University of Missouri.

He also visited Children’s Mercy Hospital in Kansas City and an autism center in St. Louis.

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New York, NY (PRWEB) July 8, 2009 — Autism Speaks, the nation’s largest autism science and advocacy organization, today launched a new national television advertising campaign highlighting private insurers’ blatant discrimination against children with autism and calling on Congress to put an end to it as part of the broader health care reform effort. The thirty-second ad, “Neighbors,” will air nationally on CNN, CNBC, and MSNBC.

“Neighbors” depicts two young boys who are next door neighbors - one, whose insurance has given him access to autism therapies is shown playing with other kids; the other, who has been deprived of access to therapies, sits alone on his lawn, socially isolated. The TV spot ends with a call to action, urging the American public to call United States Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) to tell them that any national health care reform plan that does not include autism insurance reform is unacceptable.

Fourteen states have already acted to amend insurance laws and require insurers to cover medically-necessary, evidence-based autism therapies. In the other 36 states, insurers explicitly exclude coverage of these behavioral therapies from policies, which places a significant financial burden on families seeking to provide their children with necessary services. Applied behavior analysis therapy (ABA), recognized as an effective, evidence-based treatment for children with autism, costs upward of $50,000 a year - a cost well beyond the means of most American families. A federal law would supersede state laws and require all insurers to cover ABA.

“Short of finding a cure for autism, there is nothing that can have a more significant impact on the lives of people with autism and those who love them than putting an end to insurance discrimination,” said Bob Wright, co-founder of Autism Speaks. “During the presidential campaign, President Obama committed to ending autism insurance discrimination, and the pending comprehensive health reform legislation is clearly the way for that promise to be fulfilled. Now is the time to finally right this terrible wrong.”

To learn more about Autism Votes, an initiative of Autism Speaks focused on federal and state legislative advocacy, please visit Autism Votes.

About Autism
Autism is a complex brain disorder that inhibits a person’s ability to communicate and develop social relationships, and is often accompanied by behavioral challenges. Autism spectrum disorders are diagnosed in one in 150 children in the United States, affecting four times as many boys as girls. The prevalence of autism has increased tenfold in the last decade. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have called autism a national public health crisis whose cause and cure remain unknown.

About Autism Speaks
Autism Speaks is the nation’s largest autism science and advocacy organization, dedicated to funding research into the causes, prevention, treatments and a cure for autism; increasing awareness of autism spectrum disorders; and advocating for the needs of individuals with autism and their families. Autism Speaks funds more than $30 million each year in new autism research, in addition to supporting the Autism Treatment Network, Autism Genetic Resource Exchange, Autism Clinical Trials Network, Autism Tissue Program and a range of other scientific and medical programs. Notable awareness initiatives include the establishment of the annual United Nations-sanctioned World Autism Awareness Day on April 2 and an award-winning, multi-year national public service advertising campaign with the Ad Council. Autism Speaks’ family services efforts include the Autism Video Glossary, a 100 Day Kit for newly-diagnosed families, a School Community Tool Kit and the distribution of community grants to local service providers. Its government relations department, through its Autism Votes initiative, has played a critical role in securing federal legislation to advance the federal government’s response to autism, and has successfully advocated for insurance reform to require insurers to cover medically-necessary autism therapies. Each year, Walk Now for Autism Speaks fundraising events are held in more than 70 cities across the country, as well as Canada and the United Kingdom. To learn more about Autism Speaks, please visit Autism Speaks.

About the Co-Founders
Autism Speaks was founded in February 2005 by Suzanne and Bob Wright, the grandparents of a child with autism. Bob Wright is Senior Advisor at Lee Equity Partners and served as vice chairman, General Electric, and chief executive officer of NBC and NBC Universal for more than twenty years. He also serves on the board of directors of the Polo Ralph Lauren Corporation and RAND Corporation. Suzanne Wright has an extensive history of active involvement in community and philanthropic endeavors, mostly directed toward helping children. She serves on the boards of several non-profit organizations and is also Trustee Emeritus of Sarah Lawrence College, her alma mater.

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For the original version on PRWeb visit: http://www.prweb.com/releases/2009/07/prweb2622224.htm

Currently, insurance companies in Michigan do not cover autism treatments, but do cover things such as cancer and juvenile diabetes, said House Majority Floor Leader Kathy Angerer, D-Dundee.

“I believe that’s wrong. I think that is something our children need to live their daily lives,” Angerer said. “They can’t discriminate.”

Autism is a disorder that affects the normal functioning of the brain, impacting development in the areas of social interaction and communication skills, according to the Autism Society of America’s Web site.

Treating autism can cost a family $50,000 or more a year, Angerer said.

Anne Miller, assistant coordinator for academic affairs, said she has easily spent $25,000 to $30,000 on treatments for her autistic son, Scott, since he was born 17 years ago.

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They are running out of money. And their private insurance won’t cover the autism treatments.

“It seems insane. This isn’t Viagra or a tummy tuck; this is my child’s whole future,” Jenny Witty said recently while pleading with lawmakers to mandate that insurers cover autism.

Missouri lawmakers have taken a first step toward a mandate, which insurance companies claim could have a side effect of driving up insurance costs for everyone.

A House committee on Wednesday endorsed legislation requiring group health insurance plans to cover up to $72,000 annually of autism services for children younger than 11. Insurers would have to cover up to $36,000 annually for people 11 to 21.

The House action came a day after a Senate committee endorsed legislation mandating childhood autism coverage that would apply to an even broader array of insurance providers.

Both chambers have to pass the same version of the legislation for it to go to Gov. Jay Nixon for his signature.

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Consumer Watchdog in Santa Monica sent a letter to Cindy Ehnes, executive director of the state Department of Managed Health Care, and her boss, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, expressing concern about delays in resolving coverage complaints from parents of autistic children.

The parents say insurers are refusing to cover needed behavioral therapy for their children. But, the parents say, when they took their complaints to the department, it sat on them for months.

Consumer Watchdog founder Harvey Rosenfield said in the letter that state laws require the department to take swift action on the parents’ complaints and that delays could exacerbate the children’s condition.

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The final vote on SB43 could come as early as Thursday. The outcome is too close to call, given that at least five senators who voted in favor of the measure did so on condition that their concerns be addressed in the meantime.

Floor debate on the bill over the bill mirrored in tone, length and vote the sentiments of lawmakers who reviewed the bill a week ago. The bill, nicknamed “Clays Law” after 8-year-old Clay Whiffen, whose parents say has fully recovered from severe autistic behavior through the therapy described in the proposal,

Senators voting against the measure said the therapy is apparently effective and the parents of the children who would benefit are certainly worthy of respect for dealing with the extreme disruptions associated with autistic behavior and for their situation.

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