Erda Kids jockey to hang up coats. A girl sits crumpled on the floor, crying, and a boy hides behind a chair, protesting, "I dont like kindergarten."
James Turner joins his reluctant classmates slowly, face down, but manages a smile for an aide, assigned to help him adjust to "big boy" school.
About the pilot programs
Thirty-four states require health insurance companies to cover autism services. Utahs autism community has been pushing for a similar mandate, but got three experimental lottery programs instead. They will end in June if lawmakers dont pass HB88, a bill to permanently extend them.
The Medicaid pilot served more than 300 children, ages 2 through 6.
The Utah Department of Health managed an Autism Treatment Account, which supported care for 35 kids, ages 2 through 6, with money from the state, Zions Bank and Intermountain Healthcare.
The Public Employees Benefit and Insurance Program covered 23 children, ages 2 to 7, whose parents work for state or local government.
The results
Children in the Medicaid pilot were evaluated at the start of therapy and after six months, to gauge their mastery of age-appropriate skills in areas such as listening, speech, written language and math. The children entering the program had mastered an average of 64 of 170 skills. After six months of therapy they had mastered 90.
Children covered by the treatment account were tested at the six-month mark using a different tool and doubled their scores in communication, socialization, adaptive behaviors and daily living and social skills. Parents were surveyed and 87 percent of them said their childs language had improved or greatly improved. All of them said their childs behavior had improved or greatly improved.
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James journey: Utahs autism lottery changed his life