Requiring many health insurance plans to cover autism services will provide relief to families trying to make sure their children get the treatment they need, the head of a local autism group said.
Ohio Gov. John Kasich last week announced policy changes that would require state employee health insurance, private insurers and coverage purchased through the coming federally mandated health care exchange to pay for assessments, treatment plans, speech and occupational therapy and treatment aimed at improving communication and social skills for children with autism.
"If you have to pay out of your pocket for the speech therapy and language and the OT, you can get up into a couple thousand dollars a month," said Mark Weihl, president of the board of directors for the Autism Center of Southeastern Ohio. "The financial impact can escalate pretty quickly."
Weihl's 9-year-old son, Jack, was diagnosed with autism and now attends Putnam Elementary School, something he said would not have been possible without early diagnosis and therapy to strengthen his ability to interact with other children and perform age-appropriate activities.
The change is something Marietta resident Karen Smith, treasurer for the board, believes should have happened a long time ago. Her son, Nicholas, could not speak at age 4, but it wasn't until the family received a waiver from the Ohio Department of Developmental Disabilities that the boy had access to the full range of care he needed.
"He could not get any therapies at all with our insurance," Smith said. "He got the therapy he needs, and now he's talking."
Autism affects verbal and non-verbal communication and social interactions, generally evident before age 3, in a way that adversely affects a child's educational performance.
One in 88 children is diagnosed with autism.
Thirty-two states besides Ohio currently guarantee the provision of autism services in health insurance.
Source: Ohio governor's office.
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Autism services now covered by insurance in Ohio