The autism insurance coverage bill passed smoothly in the state congress, but started having problems shortly after it reached the senate.
Things took a turn for the better this year, however, after Senator Tom Apodaca introduced a measure that helped the bill pass through the chamber in April.
On Tuesday, the bill was passed by the House Insurance Committee without a problem. According to Rep. Chuck McGrady:
“We’re long past arguing whether there should be insurance coverage for autism.”
Under North Carolina’s proposed autism insurance coverage bill, expenses related to treatments for autism will only be covered by insurers through the child’s 18th birthday, and insurance coverage for autism treatments will be capped at $40,000 annually.
Services to be covered by insurers under the proposed autism insurance coverage bill would have to be provided by licensed healthcare providers, such as occupational therapists, speech pathologists, social workers, and psychologists. Professionals who specialize on applied behavior analysis, on the other hand, are still not licensed in North Carolina, but a bill that would create a licensing system for behavior analysts has already been proposed.
Source: Matthew Burns:WRAL.com: Autism insurance coverage nears passage