News
Jon Parton Mar 7, 2014
About 1 in 88 children in the U.S. has been diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
It is now up to Kansas lawmakers to determine if insurance companies will be allowed to reduce the autism coverage for children they provide to state employees under the State Employee Health Plan, or SEHP. This includes K-State faculty and staff.
Autism is a neurological disorder that can impair communication and social behavior. Severe forms of the disorder can require people to have special care for a lifetime.
Cheryl Richt, instructor in music, said any reduction of coverage would personally affect her family.
"I have a son with autism and he is 14," Richt said. "So under the new state employee health plan, he wouldnt receive anything."
The Kansas House of Representatives received two bills related to autism coverage, House Bills 2704 and 2531. HB 2704, sponsored by the insurance industry, limits autism coverage to 520 hours of treatment per year for children nine years old and younger. It would also limit coverage to large-group plans that cover 51 or more employees sold after Jan. 1, 2015. Richt said the states plan helped her family pay for treatments that allowed her son to live at home.
"My son spent two years in a state facility in Kansas City," Richt said. "So finally, hes back home, were getting the help we need, and now they want to cut it. If he loses that therapy and that support, he wont be able to stay at home any longer."
HB 2531, co-sponsored by 35 representatives, would grant coverage of 2,080 hours of treatment a year and would apply to large-group, small-group and individual insurance plans grandfathered in after the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, commonly known as the Affordable Care Act or "Obamacare."
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Autism coverage bill could reduce benefits for state employees