Require insurance companies to cover autism treatment
Be an advocate...
Steps you can take to help with this campaign as follows:
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Click here for the latest details.
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Send a letter to your 2 representatives and your senator as soon as possible! See below for a copy of a sample letter:
Dear representative (name) or senator (name),
I am one of your constituents and the father (mother) of a x-yr-old boy (girl) with autism.
I am writing to ask your support of a pending bill on Medical Insurance for children & adults with Autism spectrum disorders. This is very similar to legislation that recently passed in South Carolina .
Currently, most insurance companies provide little coverage for autism, and some even specifically exclude coverage for autism.
The purpose of the bill is to stop discrimination against children and adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder, and to instead provide necessary medical treatment for them. Specifically, this would include diagnosis, speech therapy, physical therapy, occupational therapy, and (most importantly) behavior therapy (including Applied Behavior Analysis, or ABA). ABA is now a proven treatment for children with autism, and is recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics, the National Academy of Sciences, the US Surgeon General, and the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH). Although it does not help everyone, it is often very beneficial.
Currently, Medicaid recognizes that Autism is treatable, and the State of Arizona and the Federal Government pay for medically necessary services, including those discussed above. However, private insurance usually refuses to provide those services, leaving the burden of medical services to the state. This means it is more likely that families will not get the services they need, so that more people with autism end up in group homes at a major financial cost to the state, and at an eventual total cost far greater than the cost of early intervention.
The current situation is analagous to cancer therapy - it may not always work, but it is often helpful and life-saving. Why provide medically necessary services to individuals with cancer, but refuse medically necessary services to children with autism?
I am hoping that you will be supportive of this bill. Currently Sen. Aguirre is the major sponsor, but we hope all other senators and representatives will join to end discrimination against children and adults with autism.
Please let me know if you have any questions.
Sincerely,
(your name)
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