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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE |
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State
Rep. Jaret Gibbons |
  
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Senate version of autism bill not good enough for parents waiting for help
HARRISBURG, June 30 – A bill (H.B. 1150) to require health insurance companies to provide coverage for diagnosis and treatment of autism spectrum disorder passed the state Senate Sunday night, but state Rep. Jaret Gibbons said the bill was amended to give insurance companies a way out of covering autism.
"We worked hard in the House to pass a bill that best helped families who have children diagnosed with autism," Gibbons said. "This Senate-amended version tips the scales in favor of the insurance companies, allowing them to determine what is 'medically necessary' in terms of autism treatments. We believe those determinations should be made by the doctors treating the child."
One in 150 children is diagnosed with autism in the United States. Currently, Pennsylvania insurers are not required to cover autism services. There is no cure for autism, and much of the treatment involves behavioral therapy.
Gibbons said H.B. 1150 was introduced by House Speaker Dennis O'Brien and received bipartisan support in the House. It would require insurance companies to cover up to $36,000 of autism-related treatment for people under 21. The House passed the bill unanimously last July and sent it to the Senate for consideration.
Coverage under the bill would include medically necessary diagnostic assessments; evaluations or tests; psychiatric and psychological care; rehabilitative care; therapeutic care to include speech, occupational or physical therapy services; and prescription drugs.
Gibbons said a study by the Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council, commissioned after last year's House passage of the bill, concluded that covering autism would raise health insurance premiums by just 1 percent. The council called that increase "modest," noting that insurers predict premiums will rise 8.7 percent this year even without autism coverage.
"As a co-sponsor of the bill, I know how important it is for families dealing with autism to be able to receive available care," Gibbons said. "We want to make it easier for these families – not harder. I plan to continue the fight on behalf of the parents who are waiting for this aid."
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