Parents of autistic children say health reform should help them

The Dallas Morning News: Parents and families of autistic children and adults are hoping that the federal health law will help them. "The new federal regulations will prohibit spending caps, prevent insurers from excluding pre-existing conditions and behavioral health care, and extend dependent care to age 26. The rules are potentially good news for families struggling with costly treatments that can blur the line between medical and educational expenses and don't end with childhood."

"Wendy Fournier, president of the National Autism Association, said autism is a medical condition and insurance companies should cover treatments such as applied behavior analysis, or ABA, which involves tutors who try to change behavioral patterns." The paper quotes White House spokesman Nick Papas: "For too long, children with pre-existing conditions have been locked out of the insurance market, and too many parents have spent sleepless nights wondering how their children will get the care they need" (Mueller, 5/11).

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This article was reprinted from khn.org with permission from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. Kaiser Health News, an editorially independent news service, is a program of the Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonpartisan health care policy research organization unaffiliated with Kaiser Permanente.