Okay, you guys are probably as sick of hearing about this as I am of writing about it, but by some strange confluence of events, SB 419 has been placed on the General House Calendar for Monday, May 21. I admit, I have mixed feelings about a bill that's been stripped of ABA, but in its current version it will still provide coverage for speech and occupational therapy. And until we can convince the likes of Rep. Larry Taylor that supporting insurance coverage for autism won't cost them their place in line at the Rapture, we'll need to jam the phones.
So in the spirit of "something is better than nothing," I'm asking once again for all Texas residents to call their representatives (look 'em up here if you haven't already) and tell them to support SB 419. E-mails and faxes are effective as well.
Thanks again.
UPDATE: The Galveston County Daily News has printed a couple of letters regarding SB 419 and Rep. Taylor's involvement. One of which is mine.
1) Most plans cover a small number of visits per year (less than a dozen). My understanding is that the bill would mandate for more visits, in addition to OT (which often isn’t covered) and nutritional supplements.
2) Rep. Taylor is the one responsible for removing it from both the House and Senate bills.
Most plans cover a small number of visits per year (less than a dozen). My understanding is that the bill would mandate for more visits, in addition to OT (which often isn’t covered) and nutritional supplements.
Our insurance must be a little better than the minimums, because I’m pretty sure that we get more than 12 visits of speech and OT is covered too. However, I know my son ran up against our insurance limit for his speech visits.
I called Burnam’s office. Even though the staff had not heard of the bill, they assured me that Lon would always vote in favor of autistic children. I told them that I thought his vote was safe, but I wanted to be certain he attended. They said that he is always there.
I’ve called Diane Patrick’s, Pierson’s, and Veasey’s office. But, I’ve only gotten answering machines. I’ll try them again later.
Thanks again for your help on this.
Update on Tarrant County Reps.
I talked to Paula Pierson’s staffer Emily. She suggested that the hearing would likely be tomorrow because the lege is so behind on things. She also said that she could not say for certain whether Paula would support SB 419, but she would be “shocked” (her word) if Paula did not support it. Paula has friends who have autistic children. She aslo asked if there were any revisions I would like to have made to the bill. I said that ABA stuff had been stripped out of it. It’s probably too late, but if there is any way to get that back in, then that would really help my family. (My son is currently on the referal list at Child Study Center in Fort Worth, which is ABA learning). Emily said that they had received lots of calls on that. She also promised me that she would get back to me with a definitive answer on Paula’s position.
I also briefly talked to staffers in Veasey’s and Diane Patrick’s offices. They both said that they would get back to me on their positions.
Pete—Two questions for you:
1) I thought that speech and OT are already covered by insurance. So, does this bill just renew that coverage for another few years? Or does it add some other coverage, like additional sessions?
2) Are there others besides Taylor who we could hold responsible for ABA amendment?
P.S. My son’s story is very similar to your daughter’s … right down to the PDD-NOS diagnosis and the gluten free diet.
Thanks for working so hard on this.