On September 28th, a public meeting was held to discuss upcoming changes to health insurance coverage for autism. This page contains links to the video recording of that meeting.
Jon Owen, giving an overview of insurance coverage for autism in Utah
Note: It's mentioned in this video that the definition of a small group plan was to change on January 1, 2016 from 2-50 to 2-100. With the passage of the Pace Act, this definition is now left up to individual states. To date, it appears that Utah is sticking with the 2-50 definition.
Mike Wasmer, on how to get employers with self-funded plans to provide coverage
Dr. Mirella Petersen, on how to interact with insurance companies
Q&A
A series of questions were answered by Keith and Amy McGuire, Tonya Hales of the Utah Department of Health, and the speakers above:
- As a couple, what are some things we can do to keep our relationship strong?
- As a parent, did you ever try to run trials outside of therapy?
- Does ABA actually work?
- How did you and your team decide how many hours of treatment were best for your child?
- How does applying for Medicaid with a disability status work?
- If autism isn't covered by my insurance, but a co-morbid condition is, do I need an official diagnosis of that condition?
- I'm self funded and I should have coverage, but I don't
- If I have the new Medicaid coverage, can I have an ABA therapist accompany us to other therapies like OT and speech.
- What are the therapists going to do when they come to my home?
- What kind of activities did the therapists do with your child?
- What insurance company will give me the best coverage?
- If my child currently has SSI benefits, do they qualify for Medicaid?
- Will the mandate cover mental health therapy?
- Why are school districts not providing BCBA and ABA services?
Thanks to Adobe, the Autism Council of Utah, Affinity Autism Services, Utah Behavior Services, UTBS Heart, and all of the location sponsors for making this event happen.
