Autism Insurace Law Around the Country: What’s the Verdict?
July 27, 2009 by Abby
Filed under July 2009, Legislation and Advocacy, Weekly Questions
The latest quote I read is that 14 states have passed bills regarding the coverage of ABA services for people with Autism (Autism Speaks Interactive Map). Our states and our country have been very slow at requiring insurance companies to cover behavioral therapies for the treatment of autism, but 14 is a start. What I’d like to research this week is how the insurance coverage is going for those states that have passed such a law. In order to create precedence for other states to follow, we need evidence from the states in which the law has already passed. This will help us understand what is working and what is not working with the bills the way they are written and implemented. If you live in one of the states that has passed an Autism Insurance Bill please post here. These states are: Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Louisiana, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas and Wisconsin.
Some of the laws in these states are not yet in effect, but for those who are I’d like to address the following:
Please comment on this post regarding the following:
1. Share your experiences about working with insurance companies regarding coverage of services.
2. Have you come across any loopholes or pitfalls in the insurance law?
3. How has your life and/or the life of your child changed as a result of this law?
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I have an autistic son and I thought this law would help a lot. I didn’t know that it would not go into effect (and the insurance company didn’t know either, BTW, they had to have a superviser “get back to me”) until my policy renews at the beginning of the year. I suspect many people in the other 14 states are in the same boat and this won’t have any real impact until 2010.