PLUK News feed

Senate To Consider Changes To Medicaid Waiver

Link: Options  Health care policy options released this week by the Senate Finance Committee include ideas to change the way people become eligible for and utilize the Medicaid Home and Community Based Services Waiver. The waiver is a federal program administered by the states, which provides funding for people with disabilities to live in the community and obtain support services. There are currently long waiting lists for the waiver in many states. The Senate Finance Committee is creating policy options as part of President Barack Obama’s efforts to reform the American health care system. The committee will discuss options related to Medicaid during a meeting on Thursday.

Amendment To Fully Fund IDEA Introduced In Congress

Link: IDEA  An amendment introduced in U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday seeks to fully fund the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. The act ensures the right to a free and appropriate education for children with disabilities. When Congress initially passed legislation mandating such educational services for students with disabilities in 1975, the federal government committed to provide 40 percent of its cost, with states and school districts covering the rest. That has never come to fruition, however, with federal funding for IDEA traditionally accounting for less than 20 percent.

"Brandon's Mom" - Autism Law Shows How Citizens, Legislators Can Work Together

Link: Autism Law  Never in my wildest dreams would I have imagined that my life would take me down this path. Growing up, I always dreamed that I would get married, career, two kids, dogs, the whole package. I was certainly not overly interested in politics. Everything changed the minute I had a child with autism. I have always been a fighter, and now I was fighting for something the meant more to me than words could ever describe, our son's future. Our oldest son, Brandon, was diagnosed with autism two years ago at age 3. We have seen firsthand the amazing progress he has made with appropriate therapies. We were fortunate in that we could pay for his therapies out of pocket because our insurance did not. Unfortunately, this is not the case for most Montana families. It seemed so fundamentally wrong that hard working Montanans who pay insurance premiums still could not help their children. I was determined to do something about it.

Senate Bill 234,"Brandon's Bill," which requires insurance companies to cover medically necessary therapies for children with autism passed the 61st Montana Legislature.

Mental Health Bills to Head to Skeptical Governor

Link: Mental Health Bills  A trio of mental health bills that advocates say will cut down on the number of people sent to Warm Springs got veto-proof support from the House Tuesday. And the wide margin of support may prove vital, as the governor’s office continues to stand in opposition to House Bills 130, 131 and 132.

The bills would provide a little more than $1 million in state funding to help counties train to handle mental health crises and provide treatment within communities. That is important, say mental health advocates, because of the trauma that can be associated with sending people to the State Hospital in Warm Springs.

Oklahoma Senate Passes Autism Coverage Plan

Link: Autism Coverage Plan The state Senate has amended a House bill to require the Oklahoma High Risk Health Insurance Pool to cover autism spectrum disorders. Sen. Jay Paul Gumm offered the amendment, which was adopted Tuesday on a voice vote. Gumm, D-Durant, called his amendment a reasonable compromise to "Nick's Law," which would have required private insurance companies to pay for autism treatment up to $75,000 a year. The cap in Gumm's amendment was set at $36,000 a year. He said that cap has been approved by several other states, including Louisiana under Republican Gov. Bobby Jindal.

New Law Helps Illinois Kids Get Therapies

Link: Illinois Law Illinois will extend assistance to parents of children with Down syndrome, cerebral palsy, autism and other developmental disorders under a new law (Senate Bill 101) signed by Gov. Patrick Quinn last week. For the first time, the law will require insurance companies to pay for these youngsters’ speech, physical and occupational therapies. Specifically, it says insurers must treat so-called "habilitative" therapies for youngsters with developmental disabilities in the same way they treat "rehabilitative" therapies. The measure, strongly supported by the American Academy of Pediatrics, goes into effect Jan. 1, 2010.

Montana Becomes the 10th State to Pass Autism Insurance Reform

Link: Montana Autism Speaks Autism Speaks today joined Montana families and other autism advocacy organizations in applauding the state’s legislators for passing Brandon’s Bill, Senate Bill 234, which requires insurance companies to provide coverage of evidence-based, medically necessary autism therapies. The bill passed the House today in a vote of 75-24, following the March 25th passage in the State Senate, and now heads to Governor Brian Schweitzer’s desk for signature into law. The Montana bill requires insurers to cover up to $50,000 annually for a child with autism 8 years of age or younger and $20,000 annually for a child between the ages of 9 and 18. Coverage includes Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) therapy, which is recognized as an effective, evidence-based treatment for children with autism.

Make Autism Coverage a Fixture of Montana Law

Link: Gazette Opinion After months of work including hundreds of phone calls and e-mails to legislators and many hours of hearings in three legislative committees, a dedicated group of Montana parents has one more key House vote ahead on a bill that would require insurers to cover therapy for children with autism. However, in the House Appropriations Committee an amendment was added that would require the parents and other proponents of autism coverage to return again in 2011 - even if the bill becomes law this year. The amendment would make the new autism coverage mandate temporary, applying only from Jan. 1, 2010, to Dec. 31 2011.

Senate Panel Moves Forward With Mental-Health Measures

Link: Senate Decision A Senate panel Monday defiantly approved three bills to create new programs helping mentally ill people in crisis, refusing to accept suggestions that they can’t be afforded right now. “Let’s move them forward,” Sen. Dan McGee, R-Laurel, said after the Senate Judiciary Committee voted by wide margins to advance all three measures to the Senate floor. “This is the right thing to do. We’ll find the money.” House bills 130, 131 and 132, which create local programs to prevent people with a mental-health crisis from being sent to jail or the Montana State Hospital, have a $4 million price tag for the next two years. Mental-health advocates, county attorneys, police groups and others are strongly in support of the measures, which have already been approved by the House. Yet they’ve run into some resistance in the Senate, as lawmakers attempt to pare down the state budget in the final weeks of the Legislature.

Comment Requests from the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services

U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services