LEGISLATORS, PLEASE HELP PUSH 
THE AUTISM INSURANCE BILL
The Lives of our Children Depend on It!
~ SB 110 and HB 43!!

This will provide speech, occupational and behavioral therapy for children with autism spectrum disorder. Questions? (954) 647-0002 or e-mail Susan K. Goldstein, Vice President, Autism Society of Florida.

• The State provides full coverage through Medicaid for eligible citizens. The insurance companies doing business in this State do not. 

• Parents who consistently provide therapeutic services, with after tax dollars, often risk bankruptcy or sometimes fraudulently divorce to qualify for Medicaid. In many cases this increases the financial burden on the State, since the State must also then provide care for siblings and indigent spouses.

• Insurance companies and health maintenance organizations are in a much better position to negotiate lower rates and better quality service. Eventually, coverage costs will decrease as more professionals are trained to work with autism. Coverage will assume the cost of treatment at a lower rate.

• The average cost of cumulative therapy for children with autism is approximately $20,000 per year and steadily decreases when recommended frequencies are administered consistently.

• The targeted interventions are scientifically proven effective treatments for autism. They have the equivalent effect as a surgical procedure or medication treatments for other afflictions.

• The estimated increased cost to insurance providers is approximately $4 million, considering recent State increases in waiver eligibility, which would be spread over all policyholders. This represents less than a meager 1/12^th of 1% increase, which equates to less than 4 cents per $500.

• Children who go without the essential treatment may never have the ability to master basic life skills and they may become a danger to themselves and to the community. For every $1 we spend before the age of 5 we save $7 on lifelong care.

• Stroke victims receive speech therapy to retrain other parts of their brain to speak. That same therapeutic concept is equally as, or more effective, on a 4 year old whose language has not yet emerged. Autistic children are denied services because they have not yet acquired speech. Insurers place responsibility on DOE to teach speech. Coverage will prevent the lengthy and costly denial and appeals process, court costs and litigation expense for both insurance companies and policyholders. 

• Insurance companies assert their coverage denials, citing a Supreme Court decision (Cedar Rapids v. Garrett, March 3, 1999). Professional interpretation of this Supreme Court ruling states, “This case is about whether meaningful access to the public schools will be assured, not the level of education that a school must finance once access is attained”. Legally, the DOE is only required to meet the minimal criteria to function in a classroom. Since autistic individuals do not generalize what they learn to different environments, this minimum is not adequate to function in daily life.

• It is evident that the justification, with respect to appropriate coverage for autism, accurately conforms to the intent of the proposal for legislation as it applies to the Florida Statutes, chapter 624.215, mandating coverage. We must achieve equitable access and a better quality of life for children and families not able to provide adequate care and services for their children.