Action on autism: Pennsylvania's collective concern bears fruit

July 15, 2008

Tuesday, July 15, 2008

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Sometimes the system works, and sometimes there is good news as a

result. That was the case last Wednesday when Gov. Ed Rendell signed

a bill that requires private insurers to cover the diagnosis and

treatment of autism spectrum disorders in Pennsylvania's children.

This was another milestone on a long road that involved many

committed people -- parents, doctors, scientists and public officials.

Three and half years ago, a task force produced a final report under

the auspices of the Department of Public Welfare on how the state

could better handle the growing challenge of autism, which was then

falling through the cracks in a fragmented and poorly coordinated

system of care. The Autism Task Force, while it didn't specifically

focus on insurance, made a number of recommendations to improve the

situation and moved the discussion along.

The danger always was that this report would gather dust on some

bureaucrat's shelf. That it didn't owed much to the same coalition of

interested parties, especially Gov. Rendell, Welfare Secretary

Estelle B. Richman, and Rep. Dennis O'Brien, a Republican from

Philadelphia, who was the honorary chair of the task force.

Mr. O'Brien, who became speaker of the House last year, sponsored the

legislation that became Act 62. Starting in July 2009, private

insurers must cover proven treatments of spectrum disorders for

children and young adults up to age 21.

While broad progress has been made on the task force's

recommendations about improving the delivery and quality of

treatment, all the coordination in the world counts for little if

parents of autistic children find they have no means to pay. This new

legislation addresses that. Mr. O'Brien believes that Pennsylvania

now has the best law in the nation.

But, to rework an old saying, it's a good wind that doesn't blow

someone some ill, and insurance companies have warned about the extra

cost. Counted against the thousands of Pennsylvanian children and

their parents who are going to be free of an intolerable financial

situation, that burden doesn't seem excessive.

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