[NYAPRS Enews] NYT: Bill Passed in Albany to Make Insurers Pay for Autism Care

[Harvey Rosenthal]

Bill Passed in Albany to Make Insurers Pay for Autism Care

By
<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/h/danny_haki
m/index.html?inline=nyt-per> Danny Hakim  New York Times   June 22, 2010

 

ALBANY - State lawmakers passed legislation this week that would require
insurers to cover
<http://health.nytimes.com/health/guides/disease/autism/overview.html?in
line=nyt-classifier> autism-related screenings, diagnoses and
treatments. The move was a relief for parents of children with autism
spectrum disorders, but was sure to increase insurance premiums across
the board. 

The State Assembly passed the measure Monday night, a few weeks after it
passed in the Senate. The measure passed unanimously in both houses. 

It now goes to Gov.
<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/p/david_a_pa
terson/index.html?inline=nyt-per> David A. Paterson. New York would
become the 22nd state in which insurers are required to cover
autism-related treatments. 

"We'll review it once it's delivered," said Morgan Hook, a spokesman for
the governor. 

In a statement,
<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/s/sheldon_si
lver/index.html?inline=nyt-per> Sheldon Silver, the Assembly speaker and
a Manhattan Democrat, said, "It would be unconscionable to force New
Yorkers to pay out-of-pocket for this common, chronic condition." 

There have been a variety of estimates of the effect of the legislation
on insurance premiums. 

"The bill sponsors acknowledge it will raise premiums up to 2 percent,"
said Paul F. Macielak, the chief executive of the New York Health Plan
Association, an insurance industry group, in a statement earlier this
month. 

"Each additional coverage requirement, while they may seem well
intentioned, also carries a cost," he said. 

His group has criticized lawmakers for proposing a flurry of mandated
coverage this year for things like prenatal
<http://health.nytimes.com/health/guides/nutrition/vitamins/overview.htm
l?inline=nyt-classifier> vitamins, infant baby formula and wheelchair
purchases. 

"Lawmakers can't have it both ways," Mr. Macielak said. "It's
hypocritical for them to criticize insurance premiums as being too high
and then turn around and mandate a slew of new benefits that only drive
up costs." 

Peter H. Bell, an executive vice president of Autism Speaks, an advocacy
group, said, "Our estimate is that it was closer to a 0.5 percent
premium increase, and our experience in other states is that the
increase is lower than expected." 

Mr. Bell added that the bill was more sweeping than those passed in most
other states. 

"It has the potential to be the most comprehensive of its kind, because
other states have a dollar cap and an age cap, which means that the
treatments are only available up to a certain amount of money or for
specific ages," he said. "But the bill in New York does not have those
limitations." 

Statistics from the
<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/a/ame
rican_academy_of_pediatrics/index.html?inline=nyt-org> American Academy
of Pediatrics, which supports the legislation, found that the autism
rate among children in New York has been increasing by about 15 percent
annually, now affecting close to 1 in 90 children. 

"This is the next step towards making certain that individuals with
autism and their families are given the appropriate insurance coverage
they deserve and have earned," said Senator Roy J. McDonald, a Saratoga
County Republican who has two autistic grandchildren. "But this is only
the beginning, and the state needs to do more." 

 

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