During the past month, WAAA's Health Law Program has continued to engage in systemic and individual advocacy to increase access to healthcare for people with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and other developmental disabilities.  These advocacy efforts have resulted in both positive outcomes for the individuals but also some important systemic outcomes.  For example, WAAA settled a case that resulted in a large national employer changing its policies to eliminate caps on insurance coverage for neurodevelopmental therapies.  WAAA is also continuing its advocacy to increase community-based services for people with ASD and other developmental disabilities and co-occurring mental health disabilities.

In April of 2019, WAAA's Health Law Program also began engaging in advocacy to ensure that Managed Care Organizations (MCOs) provide evaluations and diagnosis of Medicaid-eligible adults with ASD after it received multiple complaints that the MCOs were not fulfilling their legal and contractual obligations to provide these services.  Specifically, in response to these complaints, WAAA wrote to the Director of the Washington State Healthcare Authority to apprise her of the situation and requested a meeting in order to discuss and hopefully reach a resolution to the problem.  WAAA is currently awaiting a response and is hopeful that the matter can be quickly resolved.

Health Law Program Update for April 2019

During April of 2019, WAAA has also continued to provide training to case managers at the Developmental Disabilities Administration (DDA) throughout the state of Washington.  These trainings have included information on topics including: insurance benefits for DDA's and WAAA’s mutual clients; barriers to insurance coverage; the Premium Payment Program; and how to make referrals to WAAA’s health law program for insurance navigation and legal advocacy. As a result of this training, WAAA has received increased requests for and provided assistance with, insurance navigation and legal representation in appeals.