By Laura Leslie
Raleigh, N.C. Dozens of children with autism and their families converged on the legislature Tuesday, urging Senate leaders to vote on whether to require insurers to offer better coverage for the disorder.
In May 2013, the House approved a proposal that would require insurers to cover applied behavior analysis, or ABA, a widely accepted therapy that advocates say is one of the best early intervention techniques for autism, saving the state millions or billions of dollars in later treatment costs.
The legislation, House Bill 498, has been sitting in the Senate Insurance Committee ever since.Senate leaders say they're wary of adding any additional mandates to health insurance.
House lawmakers tried again this year by adding the language to a regulatory reform omnibus, Senate Bill 493. But Senate leaders sent that proposal to their Ways and Means Committee, which almost never meets.
Autism is more prevalent in North Carolina than nationally. According to the group Autism Speaks, the organizer of Tuesday's event, one in 58 children in the state had some type of autism spectrum disorder in 2010, compared with one in 68 nationally.
Thirty-seven other states have enacted laws requiring coverage of ABA since 2001, as mounting evidence has shown the therapy's effectiveness. North Carolina is one of the few states that doesn't currently require coverage.
Under the legislation, the child must have been diagnosed by the age of 8. The treatment must be determined to be medically necessary by a psychologist or doctor. Providers would have to be licensed and regulated by the state, and the cost of the treatment cannot exceed $36,000 per year.
According to Autism Speaks president Liz Feld, adding ABA coverage has added only an average of $3.72 per year to insurance premiums in states that require it.
She saidNorth Carolina's largest insurer, Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina, has been giving Senate leaders "bad information," overestimating the likely cost of the change.
Originally posted here:
Autism advocates 'beg' for Senate vote