From the Miami Herald, Associated Press:

Families who have children with autism may be able to get insurers to cover most costs for diagnosis and treatment of the disease under the last bill the Florida legislature passed before adjourning its session Friday.

An emotional House wrestled with whether to pass the bill because it only did a small part of what House leaders wanted. They had hoped to pass a much broader plan to try to get insurance coverage guarantees for children with many other disabilities, including spina bifida and Down syndrome.

Ultimately, the House agreed to send Gov. Charlie Crist a bill already passed by the Senate that would just cover autism. Several lawmakers, however, lamented it would only help less than 15 percent of children with developmental disabilities.

… The House bill was sponsored by Rep. Andy Gardiner, R-Orlando, the father of a child with Down syndrome.

“How fair is it to say to the disability community, that if you have autism we’re going to mandate coverage for you but if God has blessed you with a child with a different disability, we’re not?” Gardiner asked as the House debated the merits of the two proposals.

This entry was posted on Saturday, May 3rd, 2008 at 7:39 am and is filed under autism, Down syndrome, insurance, law, NOT2BEMISSED, politics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.