Friday, January 22, 2010

LEG. NEWS: Iowa - SF1 Autism Insurance bill and January 27, 2010 hearing

**Update 1/28/10: 12:30PM PST - Even though the notice below was posted at the committee page, a hearing WAS held in Iowa, and here is a link to the video from a newscast which includes broadcast of that meeting.. 
There may be a commercial ad before the video plays. Apologies for the conflicting information.
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**Update 1/27/10, 4:30 PM PST - a notice at the Senate Commerce Commmittee page announced that the subcommittee hearing scheduled for today was cancelled. See announcements at Autism Votes for rescheduling of any committee events related to Iowa SF1.**

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Autism Votes has posted an announcement that the autism insurance reform bill which was carried over from the 2009 legislative session,

Iowa SF1:A bill for an act requiring certain group health insurance policies, contracts, or plans to provide coverage for autism spectrum disorders for certain persons, requiring certification of behavior specialists, and providing an applicability date.

is still active in the Iowa legislature and is scheduled for a hearing in the
Senate Commerce Subcommittee on Wednesday, January 27pm CST.
The stated business of the meeting, according to the Iowa legislative website is "discussion of SF1".

For more details on the meeting and other action items related to this legislation,
see the Iowa page at Autism Votes.

Of special interest to behavior analysts, 
"Applied behavior(al) analysis" is defined in the bill.

Applied behavior(al) analysis is placed within "Rehabilitative care" and defined to be "professional services treatment programs, including applied behavioral analysis, provided by an autism service provider to produce socially significant improvement in human behavior or to prevent loss of attained skill or function."

SF1 also defines the certification and competencies of "Behavior specialists", stating
that,
a "'Behavior specialist' means an individual, certified by the commissioner, who designs, implements, or evaluates a behavior modification intervention component of a treatment plan, including those based on applied behavioral analysis, to produce socially significant improvements in human behavior or to prevent loss of attained skill or function, through skill acquisition and the reduction of problematic behavior,
and that,
"The commissioner, in consultation with the board of medicine, shall adopt rules providing for the certification of behavior specialists..."

The full text of SF1 further specifies the application and conditions of certification as a "Behavior Specialist". Please consult that full text for the information.

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For more information
Autism Votes - Iowa

Iowa SF1

Iowa General Assembly

ABA Chapters for/in Iowa
Heartland Association for Behavior Analysis

Iowa Association for Behavior Analysis

Mid-American Association for Behavior Analysis
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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