By Andy Marso KHI News Service
TOPEKA, KAN. The Kansas House member who last session championed a bill that expanded insurance coverage for autism treatment said it may be adjusted in the upcoming legislative session.
Rep. John Rubin, a Shawnee Republican who was re-elected last week, said he will propose changes to House Bill 2744, which was a compromise struck between insurance companies and autism treatment advocates.
Were going to continue on it, Rubin said of the autism bill. As with a lot of kind of significant legislation, theres some cleanup that I think needs to be done.
The bill passed last session was expected to extend coverage to about 750 Kansas children from birth to age 5, which is about 20 percent of those estimated to need such treatment in the state. The new mandate requires insurance companies to cover up to 25 hours per week of a therapy known as applied behavior analysis treatment.
Rubin said when the legislative session begins in January, he will push to loosen licensure requirements established in HB 2744 that restrict who can provide the treatment.
I recognize it was part of the compromise to get the bill passed last year, but I just dont think its necessary, he said. I actually think its interfering with the intent of the legislation, to provide the services, because there will be fewer providers available.
Mike Wasmer, director of state government affairs for the advocacy group Autism Speaks, said the licensing requirements were added at the end of the process by the health insurance lobby. His group is hosting a meeting of autism treatment providers Dec. 5 at the University of Kansas Edwards Campus to discuss potential changes to the law.
We want to take it out but then introduce a licensure piece with the benefit of thoughtful input from the provider community and consumers, Wasmer said.
Rubin said he'd also like to expand upon the coverage mandated by HB 2744, but said that might be a difficult proposition without changes to the federal health care reforms spearheaded by President Barack Obama.
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Lawmaker says adjustments needed in law mandating autism coverage