The Franklin News-Post
P. O. Box 250
310 Main Street, SW
Rocky Mount, Virginia 24151
540-483-5113
Fax: 540-483-8013
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Monday, February 8, 2010
By JOEL TURNER - Staff Writer
A bill requiring health insurance companies in Virginia to cover the treatment of autism has been killed in a House of Delegates subcommittee.
However, the parents of autistic children, including several parents from Franklin County, still have hopes that they can persuade the General Assembly this year to require insurance coverage for autism.
A Senate bill (SB 464) requiring autism coverage will be considered today (Feb. 8) by the Senate Commerce and Labor Committee.
The parents of children with autism and other advocates lobbied the General Assembly for approval of the bills last year and again this session. They attended rallies and legislative meetings in Richmond.
After the bills were killed last year, the parents promised that they would be back.
"This defeat only serves to strengthen our resolve," said
Lavada Robertson, a Franklin County mother of an autistic child.
This year's House bill (HB 303) was killed on a 4-4 vote by a subcommittee of the House Commerce and Labor Committee. One member who supported the bill was absent from the subcommittee meeting.
The House bill would have required health insurers, health care subscription plans and health maintenance organizations to provide coverage for the diagnosis and treatment of autism spectrum disorder in individuals.
An estimated 10,000 families in Virginia have an autistic child. Many of the families said they have faced financial hardship to provide treatment and therapy for their children.
Many others are forced to delay treatment for autism because they said that insurance companies exclude medically-needed services.
Nine other states have passed legislation similar to that being considered in Virginia.
The Franklin County Board of Supervisors and Rocky Mount Town Council expressed support for the bill last year. |
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