The Politics of Autism includes an extensive discussion of insurance legislation in the states.
Terdal told The Lund Report that he’s suing Kaiser because, prior to 2011, he paid for his sons’ autism treatment -- applied behavior analysis -- with cash, when his insurance policy and a 2007 state autism law should have required the healthcare organization to pay those claims. “We couldn’t get him as much as he needed,” Terdal said. The Portland father also took time off work to assist with his sons’ therapy needs.
“When my boys were diagnosed with autism in 2008 and 2009, Kaiser recommended ABA therapy – but informed me (incorrectly) that it wouldn’t be covered,” Terdal wrote in a follow-up email. “I’m asserting that Kaiser should reimburse my actual expenses for ABA therapy – and also for the amount that Kaiser should have been spending all along, but for its failure to comply with Oregon law and the terms of the contract.”
He’s also suing Kaiser for breach of contract, and said he has been working with the Insurance Division to resolve the disagreement, but filed the tort before the statute of limitations would have expired on the oldest claims, since the Insurance Division informed him they would not make a decision until next year.
Whether Terdal’s unlawful trade case gets anywhere in the courts is hard to say -- as far as he could tell, nobody has ever gone after a health plan like this before, but he said he got the idea from previous autism lawsuits, including the landmark federal ruling against Providence Health Plan -- which argued in the proceedings that, like Kaiser, it also was a healthcare services contractor and not an insurer.
