Support Autism Health Insurance Reform in N Y State

March 1, 2010

Act Now for Autism Health Insurance Reform in New York _

Take Action!_

Please take a few minutes today to support autism health insurance reform

in New York. Autism Action Network (formerly know as ACHAMP) has been

working hard to get real autism heath insurance reform introduced in Albany,

and

Albany has heard us. Perhaps too well. There are four separate autism

health insurance bills, but we are only supporting Senator Shirley Huntley's

Senate Bill S 6123 and Assemblymember David Koon's A 6888.

These bills have three important differences from other legislation:

No annual spending caps. Several of the other bills have a $36,000 annual

spending cap. No other disorder under New York law sets an annual spending

cap, and we see no reason to begin with autism. Several other states with

costs of living a fraction of New York's, like Louisana and Nevada, have

$36,000 spending caps, others like Texas have greater caps. We can do better.

No age limit. Several other bills would stop coverage at 21. This

incorrectly assumes an adult would qualify for Medicare, which transfers the

cost

to the taxpayer. And for employed people with high-functioning autism, they

could be denied healthcare with the blessing of New York State law.

Majority support. S6123 and A6888 are both sponsored by members of the

majority party in both houses. We are a non-partisan organization but the

legislative reality is that majority sponsorship makes passing any law far

easier.

The stars seem to be aligning to make passage of autism health insurance

reform in New York a real possibility. But it won't happen without your

help. Please contact your Assemblymember and Senator and ask them to sponsor

these bills.

Click on the Take Action link to send an email message to your

representatives and the Governor in support of S6123 and A6888, the autism

insurance

reform we really want. And pass this message on to your friends, family and

co-workers. And post it on your Facebook wall or My Space page.

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