House Bill 187

“An Act requiring insurance coverage for autism spectrum disorders”

Sponsor:  Representative Petersen

Co-Sponsors:  Representatives Dahlstrom, Wilson, Gruenberg, Munoz

Talking Points

• Autism is a disorder affecting at least 1 in 150 children, with approximately 1 in 500 requiring significant clinical treatment.  Alaska currently has 1,512 children and young people under the age of 21 who have autism, of whom approximately 454 need significant clinical treatment.
• Autism is treatable. 30 years of research shows that with treatment, many children overcome the severe symptoms of their disorder.

• About half the children who receive intensive early intervention achieve normal functioning after 2-3 years of treatment
• Average gain of 22 IQ points
• 1/3 gained 45 IQ points
• Nearly 50% of those receiving intensive early intervention do not require lifelong supports

• Treatment equals savings. With treatment Alaska will see savings of $208,500 per capita in avoided special education costs and lifetime savings of $1.08 million per capita.
• Without treatment it is estimated that it will cost the state $3.2 million per capita (Michael Ganz, Harvard economist).
• Coverage of autism treatment in Alaska will enable many children to access the services they need and live more productive lives.  Most private Insurance policies specifically exclude coverage for treating autism, even when the services are otherwise covered by the health plan.
• HB 187 requires insurance policies to provide coverage for the diagnosis and treatment of autism spectrum disorders, including but not limited to applied behavioral analysis.
• The maximum likely cost of such coverage to the private insurance ratepayer is approximately 0.92% or $3.60 per policyholder per month.