LANSING The Michigan Legislature passed legislation Thusday to make providing insurance coverage for autism treatment law, including Sen. Tupac A. Hunters (D-Detroit) bill, Senate Bill 415. Senate Bill 414 sponsored by Sen. Mike Green (R-Mayville) and Senate Bill 981 sponsored by Senator Randy Richardville (R-Monroe) were also passed by the House Thursday. The bills will now be sent to Governor Rick Snyder for his signature into law.
This is arguably one of the biggest issues the Legislature has tackled in the last few years, and I am glad we could finally come together, Democrat and Republican, House and Senate, to guarantee that Michigan families receive the autism insurance coverage they deserve, said Senator Hunter. I want to commend the families that have kept up the fight over the last five years in making sure that their childrens voices are being heard here in Lansing and across this state, and am proud that we could finally achieve this victory.
Currently less than 15 percent of Michigans children with autism are getting the services they need. Without proper medical insurance coverage, many parents of children with autism are forced to forgo necessary treatments because they cannot afford them.
Families also struggle to get their child into an effective treatment program quickly without private group health insurance coverage. This bipartisan legislation would make treatment programs more affordable and accessible to parents and their children early in their diagnosis. Early treatment helps improve an autistic childs chance at leading a successful life and, in turn, decreases the long-term costs to the state for their care which are estimated at nearly $3 million.
Passage of this legislation, which makes Michigan the 30th state to offer coverage, is timely given new statistics released by the Center for Disease Control (CDC). According to the CDC report, one in every 88 children is diagnosed with autism, and the numbers are even higher for boys with 1 in 54 being diagnosed. These numbers represent a 78 percent increase in autism cases over the last decade.
In Michigan, 15,000 children have an autism diagnosis. Twenty-nine other states, including Indiana, Illinois and Wisconsin, have already enacted autism insurance reform. Autism awareness and the need to adequately cover the costs of treatment continues to grow, as Arkansas, West Virginia, Virginia, Rhode Island, California and New York have all enacted autism insurance reform laws just in the last year.
Hunter has been fighting to secure insurance coverage for autism treatment every year since 2007 when a constituent whose son has autism brought the issue to his attention. Gov. Rick Snyder and Lt. Gov. Brian Calley have both called for action on this issue, and with the Houses passage of this bipartisan bill package, Michigan is poised to be the 30th state to secure insurance coverage for families with autism.
Hunter represents the 5th District, which is comprised of Northwest Detroit, Dearborn Heights and Inkster.
This is arguably one of the biggest issues the Legislature has tackled in the last few years, and I am glad we could finally come together, Democrat and Republican, House and Senate, to guarantee that Michigan families receive the autism insurance coverage they deserve, said Senator Hunter. I want to commend the families that have kept up the fight over the last five years in making sure that their childrens voices are being heard here in Lansing and across this state, and am proud that we could finally achieve this victory.