APPROPRIATIONS SUBCOMMITTEE REVIEWS FEDERAL APPROACH
TO AUTISM RESEARCH AND TREATMENTS

Cochran Interested in Improving Policies to Enhance Access to Autism Care

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Thad Cochran today expressed interest in exploring how to improve policies that will increase access to the early intervention and behavioral treatments for children with autism.

Cochran on Wednesday took part in a Senate Labor, Health and Human Services and Education (Labor-HHS) Appropriations Subcommittee hearing titled, “Autism Research, Treatments and Intervention.”  Among the witnesses was Nicole Akins Boyd of Oxford, vice chair of the Mississippi Autism Task Force.

“Our committee has had a number of hearings on autism, its causes and treatments, and we’ve made progress in directing funding to the challenges posed by the disease.  But it is evident that we can do more to step up to the table, join forces with autism children and their families and find better ways to support the cause,” said Cochran, who is the ranking Republican on the Labor-HHS subcommittee.

While federal funding for autism research through the National Institutes of Health and the Centers for Disease Control has increased exponentially over the decade, Boyd and other hearing witnesses discussed the personal and financial hardships faced by families due to the lack of access to private insurance or Medicaid coverage for behavioral therapies and other treatments for autism.

Boyd noted in her testimony that states often use a federal waiver to withhold Medicaid coverage for autism-related treatments, which affects the ability of low-income families to access early intervention diagnosis and care.  In addition, she said no private insurance policies in Mississippi offer autism-specific therapy, and that coverage for speech, occupational and physical therapies is limited.

“It is imperative that we look at both the private and public sectors for this support as the costs of autism are borne by everyone,” Boyd said.  “On behalf of the parents, I implore you to end insurance discrimination for our children, fund intensive intervention through early intervention programs, and look at mandating coverage for those on Medicaid systems.”

In response, Cochran expressed his willingness to work with Subcommittee Chairman Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) to examine policies that inhibit the ability of parents to access autism-related care for their children, including behavioral services and telehealth initiatives.
Congress has increase NIH funding for autism research from $26.9 million in 1998 to an estimated $140 million in 2010.  CDC funding has risen from $281,000 in 1998 to more than $22 million this year.

Autism, which is four times more common in boys than girls, affects almost one in every 150 children born in the United States.  There is no cure for autism, which is the most common condition in a group of neurodevelopmental disorders whose symptoms vary from mild to debilitating.

Additional links:

http://www.msdh.state.ms.us/msdhsite/_static/41,0,170,244.html

http://www.teaam.org/index.php

http://www.autism-pdd.net/links/mississi.html