Help Military Families with Autism -- Need Support Today

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Comment by Christopher Waddell on May 6, 2009 at 2:22pm

There is also an important bill regarding the ability to direct survivor benefits to a special needs trust. I will provide details.

Comment by Michelle & Eric Lautenschlager on November 19, 2008 at 4:51pm

Any news or updates on Tricare offering benefits to Retirees?

Comment by Pat DiBari on October 22, 2008 at 1:04am

See Links below ...

Comment by Pat DiBari on October 22, 2008 at 1:03am

DearColleague--ECHOLegislation.pdf

Comment by Pat DiBari on October 22, 2008 at 1:03am

ARM08I43_xml.pdf

Comment by Pat DiBari on October 22, 2008 at 1:03am

110th--Moran-MillerECHOCoverageforMilitaryRetirees.pdf

Comment by Pat DiBari on October 22, 2008 at 1:02am

Michelle, In Sept, Congressman Moran introduce legislation to provide coverage for retirees through TriCare ... i spoke at the press conference. Here is a summary

Support Military Families Overcome Autism

Become an original co-sponsor of the bipartisan Moran/Miller legislation

Today, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that one in 150 children the age of 8 are afflicted with autism, a disease characterized by impaired social interaction, problems with verbal and nonverbal communication, and unusual, repetitive, or severely limited activities and interests.

As a way to support military families affected by autism, the Department of Defense (DoD) introduced the Extended Care Health Option (ECHO) program that provides coverage for Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA), a treatment for the symptoms of autism. The new benefit offers up to $2,500 per month with a maximum of $30,000 per year for this therapy.

According to a Harvard School of Public Health report, without effective intervention, approximately 90% of individuals with ASD require lifelong care, which costs an estimated $3.2 million over a child’s lifetime. ABA therapy has been shown to be effective in reducing this figure to less than 50% and reducing the costs of lifelong care by two-thirds.

Unfortunately, the ECHO benefit is not made available to military retirees enrolled in TRICARE. One day a soldier’s family has coverage, but all can be lost overnight due to a retirement, either forced or voluntary.

Congressmen Moran and Miller are introducing legislation to provide our nation’s military retirees with the exact same ECHO coverage for their children that have autism. Today, DoD estimates that there are 8,784 retirees with dependants diagnosed with autism or a related disorder. These families rely on their TRICARE coverage to provide the resources to support ABA therapy, which can be too expensive to afford without this benefit.

Please join Representatives Jim Moran (D-VA) and Jeff Miller (R-FL) on this bipartisan effort to provide ECHO coverage to military retirees. To become an original co-sponsor, or to request further information, please contact Heath Bumgardner (heath.bumgardner@mail.house.gov) in Congressman Moran’s office at x54376, or Brian Sitler (brian.sitler@mail.house.gov) in Congressman Miller’s office at x54136.

Comment by Michelle & Eric Lautenschlager on October 21, 2008 at 5:48pm

This is great. How is this going to affect those who are retired status? Once Eric retired from Active duty we lost all benefits. Actually, 6 months prior to his retirement in 2005 our ABA provider lost her Tricare approval and our son Jacob did not recieve 6 months worth of vital ABA services because we could not get any services in the northern va area due to the overwhelming number of children who need services in this area. Thanks for doing this and we'll do all we can to help support this action.

Comment by Amy DiBari on September 24, 2008 at 1:55am

Sample fax
sample_fax.doc

Comment by Amy DiBari on September 24, 2008 at 1:54am

ARM08I43_xml.pdf

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