GARDEN CITY, GA (WTOC) -
Autism is the fastest-growing developmental disability in America, but in Georgia, insurance companies are not required to cover costly therapies.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that one in 88 children is autistic.
Currently, 34 states require insurers to cover autism treatment. Georgia isn't one of them, but insurance mandates aren't new to the state. Georgia law requires insurers to provide certain preventative treatments, like mammograms.
Anna Bullard is lobbying for Ava's Law, a bill before the state legislature named after her daughter.
"We have mandates in place like you know, breast cancer screenings, and all those kinds of things that save lives and drive healthcare costs down because people get preventive care," she said. "This is the same issue."
Psychologists, psychiatrists and parents credit early-intervention therapy with helping autistic children lead more productive lives. Ava Bullard started getting therapy when she was 2 years old.
Now she's 8 and Anna Bullard says if you met her three girls, you wouldn't be able to tell which one is autistic.
She says that without therapy, "Ava would not be talking the way she is. She would not be able to go to birthdays. She wouldn't be in school."
Mary and Joe McCullough's grandson, Joey, is autistic. He's 32 and hasn't spoken a word in his life.
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Parents: Make insurance companies cover autism