This week, two autism insurance reform bills including coverage of applied behavior analysis and Behavior Analysis Certification Board (BACB) certificants were prefiled for consideration in the upcoming Missouri legislative session.
SB 618 Requires health carriers to provide coverage for the diagnosis and treatment of autism spectrum disorders under certain conditions
Current Bill Summary (with link to full text of the Senate bill).
Last action: Prefiled 12/1/09
HB 1311 Provides health insurance coverage for the diagnosis and treatment of autism spectrum disorder
No bill summary is available at this time
Last action: Prefiled 12/1/09
Both bills include applied behavior analysis, recognize the BACB Certification and propose reimbursement to Certificants in a capacity as direct or supervisory provider. Limit of coverage for ABA treatment of autism is $72,000/year.
Both bills have the support of Missouri Governor Jay Nixon, and House Speaker Ron Richard states that he has reversed his position of last year and would support the bill that emerges from the House - in contrast to last year when the Speaker declined to bring a similar Senate passed bill to the Missouri House floor. An interim committee has been working, prior to the prefiling to build consensus among the interested stakeholders of families, insurance providers and small businesses.
Related
MO Governor, Lawmakers Introduce Legislation Again Mandating Autism Insurance Coverage Marshall Griffin,
St. Louis Public Radio (2009-12-03)
Gov. Nixon, legislative sponsors announce legislation to require coverage of autism diagnosis, treatment
Missouri Governor Jay Nixon's News Release
December 3, 2009
Pre-filed bill would require coverage of Applied Behavioral Analysis, protect families from slashed coverage because of autism diagnosis
Autism Votes Missouri page (not yet updated 12/4/09)
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Practitioner Issues in Behavior Analysis SIG
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Views and news expressed in this blog or by the PIBA SIG are those of the SIG or individual SIG member authors and do not represent official policy of ABA International or other official body. For official policy of the Association of Behavior Analysis International, the reader is directed to their website,
Practitioner Issues in Behavior Analysis SIG
-----------
Views and news expressed in this blog or by the PIBA SIG are those of the SIG or individual SIG member authors and do not represent official policy of ABA International or other official body. For official policy of the Association of Behavior Analysis International, the reader is directed to their website,
