Missouri Advocates For Families Affected by Autism

We are a citizens action group advocating and lobbying for families that have a child with special needs. We believe that EVERY child has a right to a FREE and APPROPRIATE EDUCATION and should NEVER BE LEFT BEHIND.

Tuesday, December 17, 2013

JPMorgan, other employers move to cover costly autism therapies | Reuters

JPMorgan, other employers move to cover costly autism therapies | Reuters

(REUTERS) - Michael Giangregorio's son Nicholas was diagnosed as severely autistic when he was 18 months old. Now 12, Nicholas requires nearly round-the-clock care - special schooling as well as speech, occupational and physical therapy - that can cost tens of thousands of dollars a year.
It's a formidable expense, but starting in January, Giangregorio's employer, JPMorgan Chase & Co, will chip in.
The company announced in late November that it would add comprehensive autism coverage for expensive intensive therapies such as Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA) to its health plan for 2014. The bank joins about 15 of its Fortune 100 peers, according to the advocacy group Autism Speaks, which expects that number to grow.
As many as one in 50 U.S. school-age children — or about 1 million — have a diagnosis of autism, according to a national survey released by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention last March.
The lifetime costs of treating one person with autism could top $2.3 million, according to 2012 research from the University of Pennsylvania and the London School of Economics.
Given the expense, it is no surprise that insurers have had to be prodded to cover many autism treatments. Thirty-four states and the District of Columbia now require insurance carriers to extend coverage for ABA and other autism treatments in some or all of their individual and small-group policies.
But states don't regulate the self-funded policies offered by JPMorgan and other large employers, under which about one-quarter of Americans are covered.
That is changing rapidly. An accelerating number of major companies have been extending their health plans to include autism coverage. Companies announcing this year they will add at least partial benefits include General Motors Co, United Technologies Corp, Chrysler Group and American Express Co.
"Adding this type of benefit has been the biggest request we've heard from employees in recent years, and the outpouring of gratitude has been overwhelming," says Bernadette Ulissi Branosky, JPMorgan's head of benefits.
Even with the required co-insurance, Branosky estimates, most employees who qualify will pay less than $4,000 annually, compared with amounts that run as high as 20 times that.
INSURERS WARN OF HIGHER PREMIUMS
ABA, a form of highly structured one-on-one coaching by trained teachers, has become the most widely used autism treatment in the United States. It is endorsed by the American Academy of Pediatrics, the U.S. Surgeon General and the American Medical Association.
Many insurers, however, still categorize ABA as an experimental treatment, because of a lack of long-term research on its effectiveness, and have largely refused to cover it. School districts must offer some services for school-age children, but parents often bear much of the expense.
ABA's very high cost, as much as $60,000 per year per child, no doubt underlies this reluctance. The Council for Affordable Health Insurance, a Virginia-based association of health insurance companies, says that mandating autism coverage could raise premiums across the board by 1 percent to 3 percent, according to research it conducted in 2009.
That added expense, the industry group has warned, could make basic coverage unaffordable for many Americans.
However, data collected from states that require autism coverage suggests such concerns may be overblown. Two years after requiring coverage, seven states saw monthly premiums rise by 31 cents on average per member, according to figures collated by Autism Speaks. In Arizona's second year of mandated coverage, autism-related claims totaled about $389,000 — less than 10 percent of the $4,900,000 that the legislature forecast.
Lorri Unumb, vice president for state government affairs at Autism Speaks, reports similar results in the private sector. "Companies tell us the additional cost is miniscule, a rounding error that most don't even pass along to employees," she says. JPMorgan, which reported $21.3 billion in profits in 2012, estimates the added benefit for its roughly 200,000 employees in the United States will cost it around $10 million.
OBAMACARE ADDS LAYER OF COMPLEXITY
Federal law governs self-funded health plans, and advocates had hoped that Affordable Care Act's 2010 passage would bring expanded coverage for autism treatment all around. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has suggested a national standard could come in 2016, but so far the Obama administration has left it to states to define what the "essential benefits" are that insurers must provide when it comes to autism.
According to Autism Speaks, only 26 states included ABA coverage in their benchmarkhealth insurance plans, which outline the minimum benefits that must be offered on state exchanges.
To see the current state mandates where you live, go to link.reuters.com/fas45v. For an Autism Speaks analysis of the Affordable Care Act and autism, click onr.reuters.com/gas45v.
Many employers with self-funded plans are moving forward even without mandates. Several of the country's major technology companies, including Microsoft Corp and Intel Corp, led the way more than a decade ago, possibly because autism - according to California Department of Developmental Services records - is especially prevalent in Silicon Valley.
The past two years have seen other employers catching up.
Financial services company Capital One Bank is one of the few employers to pay 100 percent of the cost. Tricare, the Pentagon's health insurance plan, asks families to contribute as little as $25 for care regardless of the overall cost.
American Express, in addition to now covering ABA under its health plan, provides guidance for employees with autistic children on topics including educational rights, estate planning and childcare. The company is also in the process of establishing a special-needs support network, pairing parents of recently diagnosed children with those have older offspring with autism.
Employer-sponsored benefits apply to children up to the age 26 under the Affordable Care Act. The CDC defines children as individuals 17 years old and younger.

Giangregorio, for his part, says he is proud JPMorgan has decided to add coverage for ABA and other autism treatments. In the past, he says, Nicholas was not able to get the necessary services he needed, including ABA, due to a lack of insurance. "Fortunately none of my colleagues with autistic children will face that now."

Monday, December 16, 2013

State auditor requests records from Missouri's education chief : News

State auditor requests records from Missouri's education chief : News

Missouri Auditor Thomas Schweich is weighing whether to launch an audit of the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education in light of recent controversies involving the education commissioner.
Schweich sent a letter to Education Commissioner Chris Nicastro this week stating his office is considering a probe into the very issues that have triggered calls for her resignation from teachers unions, more than a dozen lawmakers and even the St. Louis County Branch of the NAACP.
Schweich is requesting department documents relating to the development of a plan calling for a new statewide district for underperforming schools, which Nicastro is expected to unveil in January. He wants records concerning the process by which the department procured a contract with CEE-Trust — Cities for Educational Entrepreneurship — an Indianapolis-based firm that’s drafting an improvement plan for Kansas City Public Schools. Schweich also has requested any internal and external communications concerning the proposed constitutional amendment that would eliminate teacher tenure.
Last week, the storm developing around Nicastro intensified after a release of department emails triggered questions about how it entered into a $385,000 contract with CEE-Trust, whose bid was three times higher than the next-highest of four bidders.
The emails showed that Nicastro had been communicating with the firm’s executive director for four months before the contract was agreed upon in August by the state Board of Education.
They also show that she tried to give the contract to CEE-Trust without seeking other bids, until members of the state board raised concerns about circumventing the typical bidding process.
The contract is being paid by private dollars from two groups supportive of charter schools — the Kauffman Foundation and the Hall Family Trust.
Late last month, other department records that became public showed that Nicastro had been consulting with Kate Casas, the state policy director for the Children’s Education Alliance of Missouri, about how to craft a ballot initiative petition aimed at eliminating teacher tenure. Rex Sinquefield, the billionaire investor and school choice advocate, is a primary backer of the organization.
The auditor’s office is requesting the education department to provide the requested documents by Dec. 31. The education department is working to accommodate the request, a department spokeswoman said Friday.

Tuesday, December 10, 2013

Calls increase for termination of Missouri education commissioner - KansasCity.com

Calls increase for termination of Missouri education commissioner - KansasCity.com

Why aren't any Republicans calling for this?

The legislators asking for Nicastro’s firing or resignation:
Rep. Genise Montecillo, Democrat; Sen. Paul LeVota, Democrat; Rep. Bonnaye Mims, Democrat; Sen. Maria Chappelle-Nadal, Democrat; Rep. Judy Morgan, Democrat, ; Rep. John Mayfield, Democrat; Rep. Ira Anders, Democrat; Rep. Joe Runions, Democrat