Bill requiring insurers cover autism fails in House subcommittee

RICHMOND 

A bill to force state-regulated insurers to cover autism treatment for people under 21 failed in a House subcommittee.

The bill, HB1588, would have covered $36,000 a year and exempt businesses with 25 or fewer employees. It went to a commerce and labor subcommittee Tuesday with the backing of emotional pleas by parents who said they couldn’t afford treatment for their children.

The Virginia Chamber of Commerce opposed the mandate, saying it would raise the cost of insurance for small businesses and ultimately leave more people uninsured.

The measure failed when no one on the subcommittee made a motion for or against it.

“That was disgusting, really,” said Del. Bob Marshall, R-Prince William County, one of the bill’s patrons. “The silence is simply unacceptable. Vote it up or vote it down.”

A companion bill in the Senate, SB1260, is still alive but hasn’t gotten out of a committee yet. The mandate would not affect the self-insured policies of many large companies because those fall under federal law.