Texas Gov: Sign Autism Bill!

Gary Scharrer
Austin Bureau
http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/metro/stories/MYSA060307.01B.autism.357329a.html
Source: mysanantonio.com
AUSTIN — Parents of children with autism cheered when Texas lawmakers revived a dead bill they say will give families hope, save some from bankruptcy and reduce long-term costs for taxpayers.

But the Texas Association of Business wants Gov. Rick Perry to veto House Bill 1919 because of an amendment that changes the definition of autism from a mental illness to a neurobiological illness — and requires insurance companies to cover treatment for 3- to 5-year-olds with the disease.

The autism insurance measure passed the Senate but languished in the House until just hours before the legislative session ended on Memorial Day, when lawmakers approved it as an amendment to insurance-related legislation.

"Somebody finally heard us," an emotional Cynthia Singleton of Houston said after legislators approved the amendment. "Parents have been struggling for years to be heard, and, I think, somebody finally cared enough to help make it happen."

Singleton said she and her husband have spent more than $100,000 on treatment for their 8-year-old son with autism. They financed the treatment by selling a four-bedroom home in Houston and renting a three-bedroom apartment for more than two years.

Most families can't afford the expensive, intensive intervention that offers some level of success if the treatment starts early.

By the numbers
1 million: The number of children, up to 18, that the Texas Department of Insurance estimates are privately insured.
1,111: Assuming a 1 in 150 prevalence of autism and that this bill covers three years of a child's life, it is estimated this many children will be covered in any given year. However, some of these children will not require extensive treatment.

$208,500: Dollars the state could save per child across 18 years of general revenue-funded educational services if the child undergoes early intensive behavior intervention, according to results from a University of Houston study.

$771.5 million: Amount the state will save in special education costs alone, within the first 10 years of the bill's passage.

$2 million: Average lifetime savings for a child with autism who receives early intervention, according to national projections.

Source: Office of state Sen. Eddie Lucio



"What we know about brain development is that when children are very young, their brains are very plastic. You can shape and change how the brain functions," said Theresa Diaz, president of the Autism Society of Greater San Antonio. "At its heart, autism is the brain processes information completely differently from a typically developing brain."

Diaz has a 5-year-old son with autism.

Intensive and early intervention helps the brain to rewire itself to the point that "children will still have autism, but they most likely will be able to be much more functional," she said.

But the costs are staggering without insurance coverage.

"We have families all over town who are declaring bankruptcy left, right and center because they are just trying to figure out how to get their children to function," Diaz said.

The Texas Association of Business, which routinely tries to fend off any governmental mandate on business, has asked Perry to veto the measure.


(Photos by Bahram Mark Sobhani/Express-News)

Theresa Diaz struggles to hold her son, Merced, as they make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich with his sister, Paloma.


Merced Diaz, who is autistic, plays on a backyard swing with his sister, Paloma, and mom, Theresa.


"It's not about autism. It's not about brain injuries. It's not about cervical cancer," said the association's Shelton Green. "We want to avoid placing mandates on employers, on their health benefit policies."

Such requirements increase costs for employers already struggling with annual insurance premium increases, he said.

"We want the free market to work," Green said. "We want to leave the discretion up to the employers and let them decide what health plans (to provide) and not the state."

Citing a February report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that one of every 150 children has some level of autism, Diaz and others said taxpayers face a staggering future cost if those children do not receive treatment.

If insurance coverage for autism treatment is "such a good idea and such a cost savings, then employers should do it today without a state mandate," said Green, adding he had "nothing against those with autism or children and families dealing with autism. It's a tragic situation."

Perry spokesman Robert Black said the governor has not decided whether to veto the bill.

The number of Texas children with autism has nearly doubled in four years, reaching 17,282 in the 2005-06 school year, according to the Texas Education Agency. But experts contend the count is vastly understated and does not include large numbers of children with autism who are home-schooled.

Sen. Eddie Lucio, D-Brownsville, has been trying to pass the autism insurance bill for six years.

"Not only will this legislation save the state billions of dollars in the next decade alone, but it will bring renewed hope to many of these children and their parents," Lucio said. "We can honestly say we are giving children an opportunity for a more independent life."

Adults with autism who did not get treatment as children often need extensive care that can cost $100,000 per year per individual, Diaz said.

She and others wanted the coverage to extend to younger and older children but settled for 3-to-5 age range as a compromise.

In Bexar County, the average age of a child when diagnosed with autism is 7, Diaz said.

The warning signs for children with autism show up between 10 and 18 months "and the diagnosis should begin so that the intervention can begin," Diaz said.

If the bill becomes law, insurance coverage would help families pay for applied behavioral analysis, a tested approach for treating autism, and such services as behavior management, speech therapy, physical therapy and occupational therapy, said Singleton, the Houston mother.

She has been fighting for insurance coverage for about seven years and helped inspire other parents to contact lawmakers last month.

"People should not have to choose between getting treatment for their kids or having to sell their house," Singleton said. "There is no cure. Recovery is what they talk about."

Children with early treatment show average IQ, can do grade-level work and function independently in a general education classroom without support, Singleton said.

"We came very, very close to that," she said of her son's progress. "We had to stop doing some of the applied behavior analysis because we just ran out of money."