Hart to Heart: Mom who won a fight for autism insurance is keynote speaker at the Savannah Autism Conference 2011
Those whose lives are affected by autism are invited to meet the mother of three who forced South Carolina insurance companies to cover autism.
Many treatments and therapies that help autistic children aren’t covered by health insurance.
It’s a sad fact that families who have children with autism know all too well. To help their child improve and function, parents must shell out tens of thousands of dollars, despite having paid insurance premiums.
Attorney Lorri Unumb, mother of three, including a 10-year-old son with severe autism, is changing that.
She forced insurance companies in South Carolina to cover autism and is helping other states, including Georgia, pass similar laws.
Lorri is the author of the ground-breaking autism insurance legislation in South Carolina known as “Ryan’s Law,” which requires insurance companies to cover treatments for autism.
Lorri is the keynote speaker at the Savannah Autism Conference 2011 on Sept. 17. Anyone touched by autism is invited to attend. It will include nine speakers.
Fighting for autism insurance reform
Ryan’s Law, named after Lorri’s son, states that insurance companies must provide up to $50,000 annually on behavioral therapy, up to the age of 16. The law provides coverage for various treatments, including those previously denied as “experimental.” It doesn’t, however, apply to people or companies who are self-insured, such as the Unumbs.
To date, 27 states have enacted similar statutes.
Lorri is hopeful a similar bill in the works for Georgia will pass next legislative session.
“Especially because it is not costing as much as the health insurance industry feared it would cost,” said Lorri, vice president of State Government Affairs with Autism Speaks.
Her presentation in Savannah will focus on the new autism insurance reform and share strategies for enacting such legislation in Georgia.
To those concerned that such mandates drive up insurance costs for businesses, Lorri points to the several years worth of data since Ryan’s Law went into effect in 2008.
Insurance premiums increased 44 cents per member per month based on insurance data collected since 2008, Lorri said.
“Forty-four cents versus a child with autism getting the treatments they need,” said Lorri. “Even real fiscal conservatives will agree that paying an extra
44 cents a month for a child with autism to receive the services they need is well worth it.”
A medical diagnosis without medical coverage
The national movement toward legislating meaningful health insurance coverage for individuals with autism represents what many in the autism community have long wanted: the health care system to do its part when it comes to autism.
For too long, parents, schools and the government were the only ones at the table. Missing was the health insurance industry.
Lorri points out that her child’s autism was diagnosed by a specialized pediatrician, not a note sent home from the school principal.
“Why should we expect the schools to handle autism rather than have health insurance play it’s part, too?” Lorri said.
Schools still have a role to play, as well as, of course, parents and some government-provided services. But for too long only those three players were at the table, Lorri said.
“Autism is such a pervasive disorder, it affects every aspect of a child’s life that all the players need to be at the table,” Lorri said. “But what you didn’t have was health insurance playing it’s part.”
Until now — thanks to a mom.
Contact Anne Hart at anne@southernmamas.com
IF YOU GO
What: Savannah Autism Conference 2011
When: 8:15 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Sept. 17
Where: Memorial University Medical Campus, 4700 Waters Ave., Hoskins Center for Biomedical Research.
Information: Call 912-748-6463 or go to www.facebook.com/themindspringcenter and click on the autism seminar tab.