The 6th Annual Autism Law Summit, dedicated to the passage, implementation and enforcement of meaningful autism insurance reform across the nation convened last week at the University of Utah’s Susan J. Quinney School of Law. Lorri Unumb, Autism Speaks VP of State Government Affairs, facilitated the Summit, as she has for the past six years.
The Summit has evolved from an informal gathering of a handful of national advocates, to a capacity-level event from 33 states. Once again, parents, providers, attorneys legislators and regulators, create remarkable momentum in the effort to create a system where individuals diagnosed with an ASD can access coverage for the life-changing treatments they need.
The “Speak out” award to Lou Melgarejo, producer of the “Fixing” Autism video in honor of his daughter Bianca and the difficulties faced by families in gaining insurance coverage for needed therapies set the stage for the jam packed summit.
Utah Representative Merlynn Newbold and Professor Bonnie Mitchell from the S.J. Quinney College of Law, welcomed attendees prior to Lorri Unumb’s presentation,” Autism Insurance Reform Across America.” Five states that passed legislation since the previous Summit: Arkansas, Virginia, West Virginia, Rhode Island and California received honorable mention.
MI State Representative Jason Grill presented “Politics 101” relating lessons learned from his experience in the Missouri legislature's passage of autism insurance reform.
Bryan Davey, PhD, BCBA-D (AZ) and Colleen Allen, PhD, CCC/SLP (MI); employer representatives Doug Green of DTE Energy (MI) and Jeremy Shane of HealthCentral(MD) and parent advocate Karen Fessel, Dr. PH(CA) presented “Convincing Self-Funded Companies to Add an Autism Benefit.”
Misty Bloom, JD of the Behavior Analyst Certification Board(FL); Andrea Chait, PhD, BCBA-D, NCSP (RI), and Jill McLaury, MS BCBA (WV) gave an overview of the provider credentialing issues.
I joined attorneys Ele Hamburger (WA), Dan Unumb (SC) and Dave Honigman (MI) for an update on litigation efforts against insurers.
Billy Edwards, MS, BCBA (TX); Mike Wasmer (KS), and Amy Weinstock (MA) shared their experiences implementing autism insurance laws in their respective states.
Adam Cole, JD, General Counsel, CA Department of Insurance; and Angela Nelson, Director of Consumer Affairs, and Melissa Palmer, Legislative Director, from the MI Department of Insurance and Jacqueline Eckert, MedClaims Liaison (PA) discussed “Enforcement of Coverage".
A mock legislative hearing on autism insurance reform, provided an opportunity for attendees to experience first-hand the challenges frequently experienced by advocates.
Insights by the Autism Speaks Government Relations team specific to grassroots development, communications, policy, implementation and enforcement was interspersed throughout the summit.
As all of us headed back home to different parts of the country, colleagues, old and new shared smiles and hugs of encouragement. Once again, the connection of hope and ideas has been sparked and 2012 is destined to be another year of hard-fought progress in the effort to ensure access to autism insurance coverage, family-by-family, plan-by-plan and state-by-state.
