Many advocacy groups praised Gov. Jerry Brown (D) for signing a new law (SB 946) that requires private health plans to provide coverage for certain intensive autism therapies, such as Applied Behavior Analysis.
However, both advocates and business groups have raised concerns about certain aspects of the new law, such as its exemption for public health insurance plans and health insurance policies provided to state employees through CalPERS.
In a California Healthline Special Report by Deirdre Kennedy, experts discussed the benefits and shortcomings of the new autism coverage mandate.
The Special Report includes comments from:
- Nicole Evans, vice president for communications at the California Association of Health Plans;
- Henry Loubet, chief strategy officer of the insurance brokerage firm Keenan; and
- Lorri Unumb, vice president of state government affairs at Autism Speaks (Kennedy, California Healthline, 12/16).
The complete transcript of this Special Report is available as a PDF.