AUTISM INSURANCE REFORM LEGISLATION IN RHODE ISLAND

Autism Insurance Reform Legislation is Moving Forward in Rhode Island!

House Bill 7260, AN ACT RELATING TO INSURANCE -- AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDERS, sponsored by Representatives Peter Palumbo, Eileen Naughton, Arthur Corvese, J. Russell Jackson and David Caprio would require health insurers to cover the diagnosis and medically necessary treatment of autism spectrum disorder. With fifteen states already requiring health insurers to cover medically necessary autism treatment across the country, and more than twenty currently moving forward with similar legislation, it is time for autism insurance reform to become a reality in Rhode Island.

Numerous advocates and autism organizations have worked to bring this autism insurance legislation to this point. Nevertheless, there is still a great deal of work to be done to ensure the success of HB 7260. Stakeholders and legislators from all over the state remain critical to the momentum HB 7260.

Rhode Island Families Against Restraint and Seclusion showed a presence today at the hearings at the State House in Providence, along with other advocates for health bill reform- Joanne Quinn from The Autism Project, Attorney Lorri Unumb from Autism Speaks, Susan Constable, director of RIDE's R.I. Technical Assistance Project-Autism Support Center, and Nicole Katzman from the Bureau of Jewish Education of Rhode Island. Irwin Jacobowitz of RI FARS and his two children, Dakota and Montana, spoke at today's hearing in support of the bill. RI FARS is aware that children on the Autism Spectrum requires positive behavioral interventions which could be very costly for families. Families should not have to worry about the cost of positive behavioral treatments for their child. If children on the autism spectrum receive positive behavioral interventions from an early age, schools should be less inclined to use restraints and seclusion. Mr. Jacobowitz stated, "Children should no longer have to be unnecessarily restrained or placed in seclusion, because society failed to provide necessary positive behavioral interventions due to cost."

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Summary of the Rhode Island Autism Insurance Reform Bill:
House Bill 7260 - Sponsored by State Representative Peter Palumbo
Would require health insurance companies to provide coverage of the diagnosis and treatment of autism spectrum disorders.

Coverage of treatments will be provided when prescribed, provided, or ordered for an individual diagnosed with autism by a licensed physician or a licensed psychologist who determines the care to be medically necessary.

Under this bill, health insurance companies would be required to provide coverage of the following:

Diagnosis of autism spectrum disorders - meaning medically necessary assessment, evaluations, or tests to diagnose whether an individual has one of the autism spectrum disorders;

Habilitative or rehabilitative care - meaning professional counseling, and guidance services and treatment programs, including applied behavior analysis that are necessary to develop, maintain and restore the functioning of an individual to the extent possible;

Psychiatric care;

Psychological care;

Therapeutic care - meaning services provided by licensed or certified speech, occupational, or physical therapist;

There are no age caps;

There will be no dollar, or number of visit limitations on covered treatments;

The bill does not affect any obligation to provide services to an individual under an individualized family service plan, an individualized education program (IEP), or an individualized services plan;

The bill applies only to state regulated insurance plans. It does not apply to self-funded insurance plans as these plans are regulated by the federal government under ERISA law;

If passed, this bill will apply to plans issued or renewed immediately.

Houses Approves Bill to Protect School children from Harmful Restraint and Seclusion

GAO Found Hundreds of Cases of Students Being Abused Through Inappropriate Uses of Restraint and Seclusion

March 3, 2010 4:54 PM
familiesagainstrestraint@yahoo.com

WASHINGTON, D.C. – In response to a recent government investigation that found widespread allegations that children were being abused through misuses of restraint and seclusion in classrooms, the U.S. House of Representatives approved bipartisan legislation to protect children from inappropriate uses of these practices in schools. The Keeping All Students Safe Act (H.R. 4247) passed by a vote of 262 to 153.

“It’s time to end this nightmare of abuse that has hurt too many students, classmates, families and school communities,” said U.S. Rep. George Miller (D-CA), chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee and original sponser of the legislation.

“This critical piece of legislation confronts the unimaginable situation in schools across the country whereby some of our nation’s most vulnerable children are treated in an inhumane and degrading manner," said U.S. Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA), original sponsor of the legislation.

The Keeping All Students Safe Act would establish, for the first time, minimum federal standards to provide equal protections to all students, in every state across the country.

*It would make clear that physical restraint or locked seclusion should be used only when there is imminent danger of injury and only when imposed by trained staff.

*It would prohibit mechanical restraints, such as strapping children to chairs, misusing therapeutic equipment to punish students or duct-taping parts of their bodies and any restraint that restricts breathing.

*It would also prohibit chemical restraint, which are medications used to control behavior that are not consistent with a doctor’s prescription.

*The bill would prohibit school staff from including restraint or seclusion as planned interventions in student’s education plans, known as Individualized Education Programs (IEPs).

*It would also require schools to notify parents immediately after incidents when restraint or seclusion was used.

In many of the cases GAO examined, parents only learned that their child was being restrained or secluded from a whistle-blowing teacher – or when their child came home bruised.

*The legislation would also allow states the flexibility to tailor their individual laws based on their needs: It would ask states to have their own laws in place, within two years, that either meet or exceed these basic federal standards.

Full list of supporters

Read the GAO’s investigation

Learn more about the bill