Insurance Action in Delaware and Oregon
WBOC reports:
A bill introduced in the Delaware Senate on Tuesday could be the financial help many parents with children with autism are seeking.
Senate Bill 22 would require insurance companies to cover treatments for autism for kids under 21 in Delaware.
Currently, many parents have to pay out of pocket for services their children because their insurance won't cover them. Nancy Carnwright's 11-year-old son Dylan has autism and she said the cost has been very high for her family.
"We had to pay out of pocket thousands of dollars for services that really helped him," she said. "He's 11 now and we can see the fruits of our effort. I wish this wouldn't go this way for other families."
Autism Speaks, the nation's leading autism science and advocacy organization, today applauded the City of Portland’s decision to extend autism insurance benefits to city employees, including coverage for Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA), paving the way for wider reform to be enacted at the state level in Oregon in 2013.
Through the efforts of City Commissioners Amanda Fritz and Dan Saltzman, Portland will start covering autism treatment, including ABA, for city employees and dependents on July 1 with no financial, age or visit caps. In addition, existing limitations on physical, occupational, speech and audiological therapy necessary to restore or improve lost function caused by autism will be removed. The benefits apply to employees covered under the city’s self-funded health plan administered by ODS; employees covered under the city’s Kaiser plan will receive assistance to appeal and resolve denials of ABA therapy.
