Obama Federal Autism Mandate -- Draft Bill

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Comment by Carmen H Negron on March 30, 2009 at 9:36am

I am pleased to hear that President Obama team is working on this. This is something that is past due for many years. Lets hope, pray and work hard to get this through because our kids need it. I just wish that everyone would be more receptive to our kids needs.

Comment by Mark Llobell on January 6, 2009 at 8:21am

What a nice lift this would be although We need to insure we keep our focus on what we can do now and that is HB1588. Our kids need assistance, support and coverage now and our elected officials need to act on HB1588 and pass this bill.

Comment by Jodi Folta on November 12, 2008 at 10:26am

We're already working on getting in touch with Senators Warner and Webb to bring our state efforts to the federal level. We'll work these efforts in parallel pushing both forward.
Note the language in Obama's bill is strangely similar to what we've got in VA HB1588....

Comment by Carol Nunez on November 9, 2008 at 9:17am

The Bill is a very positive step in the right direction. I am pleased to see Pres. Elect Obama has put autism at the top of his agenda. However, I agree we still need to maintain our focus on HB 1588 because this bill could take a VERY long time to become reality.

Comment by Ellen Cicconi on November 8, 2008 at 9:36am

I was surprised with how quickly the Obama team developed a plan. It looks like they have been paying attention to what has already been done in other states. I was reading through the language this morning and was very happy to see that in the "prohibitions" section, it indicates that insurance providers cannot deny coverage when it is "necessary to develop, maintain, or restore skills or functioning, or to prevent the loss of skills or functioning." I think that means that if your child reaches a plateau or regresses, they can't cut off services. I hope that's what it means. I believe this is similar to the wording in the PA autism insurance law (but I would have to double check on that).

Comment by Susan Goewey on November 8, 2008 at 8:46am

I have been an Obama supporter for 2 years...yet I did not know that my hero and new Pres-elect had actually gotten this far to draft a bill to right the injustice of insurance companies refusing to pay (in our case, claiming ABA treatment was "educational" not "medical", despite RX and letter of Medical Necessity from Luke's developmental pediatrician at Children's Hospital.) Over the past 6 years, no less than FIVE different insurance companies that provided our "healthcare" denied payment for my now-8 yr. old son's early intervention ABA therapy. So we self-funded this fabulous and needed therapy for 4 years from age 2-6 by refinancing our home, thanks to housing bubble... we were lucky enough to have enough equity in our home to do this--even after I had to quit my job, due to the demands Luke's conditions put on us--- but not everyone has this resource, esp. since housing collapse. Remember most bankruptcies are due to healthcare crisis, not spendthrift ways. I'm so relieved Obama is on top of this issue.

Comment by Lori Ghiringhelli on November 7, 2008 at 11:41pm

I will still stay focused on what we need to do for HB1588, if the President Elect wants to add something positive to that that is great BUT you will not be seeing me jumping up and down thinking everything is taken care of. I want to see it first and then I jump on board. I hope Autism is not going to be a playground for politicians.
The bottom line is that we have to stay vigilant to getting this bill passed, forget what Obama said he would do during his campaign lets see what he will do as the President of America.

Comment by Ellen Cicconi on November 7, 2008 at 11:27pm

It looks like the plan would mandate that health insurance cover autism spectrum disorders -- diagnosis and treatment, including OT, ST, PT and ABA.

Comment by Lori Ghiringhelli on November 7, 2008 at 10:18pm

What exactly is his plan?