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Two comments by officials in two Utah insurance companies suggest how much is still not known about autism. From today’s Salt Lake Tribune:
“Is it even a defined disease? It’s a heart-breaking condition, but they don’t know the etiology, they don’t know the source,” said SelectHealth’s Medical Director Ken Schaechar. Autism is one of five pervasive […]
So what do you do if your state passes autism legislation (as my state, New Jersey, did in September of 2007) and then it gets stalled by budget cuts—-when the bill gets passed but there’s no funding as it’s an austere buget year” ? In Florida, the Window of Opportunity Act was passed by the […]
The April 14th St. Louis Post-Dispatch makes a case for the need for insurance coverage for autism treatment. SB 1122 would allow for insurance coverage “for the treatment of autism under certain conditions”: Autistic children who are “less than 16 years of age” would qualify for up to $50,000 per year of behavior therapy. […]
It’s April, it’s Autism Awareness Month, and last week saw the inaugural World Autism Day on April 2nd, and there were a whole lot of autism stories in the news——and there’s still three more weeks to go.
This April has some added significance for me: It’s Charlie’s last month of being 10 years old as his […]
After their now-7-year-old son Ryan was diagnosed with autism 5 years ago, Lorri and Dan Unumb “they sold their house, downsized and sacrificed to cover costs,” an April 1st CNN story reports. Intensive behavior therapy for Ryan costs between $70,000 and $80,000 a year which is lawyer and law professor Lorri Unumb’s “entire salary.” The […]
The April 1st CNN Money.com reviews the “recent brouhaha about 9-year-old Hannah Poling,” whose family received a settlement under the federal government’s Vaccine Injury Compensation Program “based on their claim that childhood vaccinations aggravated a rare metabolic disorder in Hannah, triggering autism symptoms.” Writer David Stipp notes that, in a 2006 survey, 54% of families […]
Up to 80 percent of autistic children could hold jobs and become independent, according to Sandra Hastings, a certified behavioral analyst, who has worked with autistic children since 1989 and is now working in the Santa Rosa County schools in Florida. Hastings is quoted in an article in the Northwest Florida Daily News about the […]
Almost everyone had something to say about Autism: The Musical which can still be seen on HBO’s website. I’m wondering when someone will make Autism: The Comedy—enough already about “the tragedy of autism”!
Drinking While Pregnant Linked to Autism
Dr Maggie Watts, vice chairman on alcohol for the Scottish Association of Alcohol and Drug Action Teams, suggests […]
Last Friday, Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano signed House Bill 2847 into law, requiring private health- and disability-insurance plans to cover the diagnosis and treatment of autism. As the March 22nd Arizona Republic notes, the legislation specifically provides families with “better access to behavioral therapy.” Children up to the age of 8 can receive up to […]
Yesterday Governor Janet Napolitano signed legislation that will eventually require insurance companies in Arizone to provide coverage for autism, the Yuma Sun reports. Only companies with at least 50 works and with employer-purchased insurance for companies will have to provide the coverage, and children up to the age of 8 can receive up to $50,000 […]
Autism mother gets on her soapbox.
Written by Kristina Chew, PhD [email] for b5media.
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