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By Bob Lewis
RICHMOND
Legislation that would have required many Virginia employee health care plans to cover a treatment for autistic children died Tuesday under business and insurance industry claims that its costs would hurt business.
Sen. Janet Howell's bill was tabled Tuesday on an unrecorded voice vote by a House Commerce and Labor subcommittee.
The defeat ends a 2010 legislative push by families of children with the neurological disorder to secure coverage for a treatment called applied behavior analysis.
"They were lobbied hard by the insurance and business lobbies not to stand up for children and families," said Mark Llobell of Virginia Beach, grandfather of an autistic child and one of several tearful relatives who consoled one another after the vote.
ABA treatments cost $30,000 a year and up. Many middle-class families forced to pay the costs themselves confront financial ruin.
Virginia is among 35 states that do not compel insurers to cover the ABA treatments, which specialists say are the best hope autistic children have for living a normal life.
Howell, D-Fairfax County, presented the subcommittee members with a photo of her grandson, Bode, a child with autism.
"He's in a good place. He's in Arizona, not Virginia," she said, noting that Arizona mandates insurance coverage of the treatment. "Kids in Virginia shouldn't be treated any more shabbily than those in Arizona."
An actuary who studied likely costs of additional mandated coverage for ABA said the expenses would increase by only 0.2 percent.
Some legislators were troubled that the bill mandated coverage for private employee health plans but excluded state employees until 2015, a concession to a $4 billion shortfall looking for the 2011 and 2012 budgets.
Why were state employees ever excluded, asked Del. Sam Nixon, R-Chesterfield.
"Because we're bankrupt," Howell replied. "We don't have the money right now."
Robert N. Bradshaw Jr., a lobbyist for the Virginia Independent Insurance Agents, used that argument to benefit the opponents.
"Frankly, businesses are at the breaking point," Bradshaw said. "If the state can't afford it today, what makes you think small businesses can."
Del. Jeion Ward, D-Hampton, sought to amend the bill to force it to apply to all private insurers as well as state employees beginning in July 2012. Her motion failed, and the panel subsequently killed the bill.
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forget the ABA....
i'd just like to be able to get a supplemental policy for my son to go with medicare part A and B he has that I pay for.
I found in this area it is extremely difficult to get a physician to utter the "A" word - they put off and put off and put off... This delay makes any intervention useless. In my son's case, I knew when he was 5 months old there was a problem and a myriad of different doc consults, disability labels, school IEP's, special ed, etc., etc., etc.....I got his autism diagnosis when he was 13. Everything done prior to that was a TOTAL WASTE. I won't even mention a lot of things in his IEP he never got - but that's another story and I won't bash the city of chesapeake school's special ed dept today. LOL.
The wealth oligarchy is selling wolf tickets.
In Reagan's second year he proposed $9 billion in cuts in support for children and poor families. The U.S. Congress only accepted $1 billion. A decade later, Clinton was still able to balance the budget and leave the country with a surplus.
These politicians are educated men and women. They can find other ways to manage the budget.
Unfortunately, they too often choose the simple, expedient way at the expense of children and the poor and
In some worse case instances, these corporate beholden political stooges are actually looking out for the interests of the wealth oligarchy above the interests of the people.
Shameful.
Simply shameful.
Autism on insurance
These people are jokes its crazy how the bill process works, we as the people have no say in anything really it should read "we as a select group of closed minded people that make the decisions that we are told to make by the rich or someone with power" the people should have more voting power...
Ring Ring goes the alarm. Wakey wakey.
These political stooges have nothing in common with the average Virginian or American.
The working men and women of America have already produced the wealth to pay for health care, social security, education etc.
The problem is that the top 1 percent of the wealthiest Americans have horded the money.
Reinstate the tax code back to what it was during the 1940's. Require that social security tax be paid on all wages, not just the first $168,000. Cut the bloated defense budge to what is necessary for national defense and security. The money is there people. It always has been. We just have to take back our fair share of the capital which our labor has produced and we can solve many of our economic and financial problems. Corporate greed is destroying this nation and the world.
Open minded is correct
Open minded is correct. Corporate greed is destroying America. It's the reason we have the most unfair and expensive healthcare system in the world. It is the reason that the banks were able to steal all our money and get away with it. The banks and the insurance companies are robbing us blind with the help of their puppets in the Republican Party.
Robert is not the
Robert is not the spokesperson for wealthy corporations. He is the head of a group of insurance professionals. The bulk of the group actually sell insurance. So, the proposed .02 would be a pay increase for most of his members. However, the members also are business people and also have to pay for insurance. Add to this fact that they see people on a regular basis who have to eliminate coverage due to cost.
One actuary means nothing. The cost on this issue would be far beyond that. Check the numbers of autistic members that would be provided for and multiply that by the cost. Then ONLY those who pay for their insurance would shoulder the cost.
I understand wanting to help people but let's actually fix the problem. We start with tort reform. A lawyer will likely chime in here about limiting damages but just take a look at the legislative initiatives their industry has made in the past two years to line their pockets further. The current health care plan punishes states for tort reform.
Like he was the only lobbyist. Riiiiight!
I am curious as to why insurance companies in Arizona have not declared bankruptcy? Are rates much higher than in Virginia?
I assume this reply which
I assume this reply which says nothing is meant as a rebuttal? You can answer your own questions George. No offense is meant, but I intended to point out most of those clamoring for these changes do not understand the subject, and likely do not want to. It is far easier to complain than to learn for some.
It really throws the argument of when the members of IIAV would in fact MAKE MORE if the law passed. Someone owes the guy an apology.
Virginia Sucks
Virginia Sucks