Advocates, Business Groups Raising Concerns About State's New Autism Coverage Mandate

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 theÂ insurance brokerageÂ 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.

KFF Health News is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF—an independent source of health policy research, polling, and journalism. Learn more about KFF.

<h1>Advocates, Business Groups Raising Concerns About State’s New Autism Coverage Mandate</h1>
<div>		<time class="posted-on" datetime="2011-12-16T00:00:00-08:00">
			December 16, 2011		</time>
		</div>
<p>Many advocacy groups praised Gov. Jerry Brown (D) for signing a new law (<a href="http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/pub/11-12/bill/sen/sb_0901-0950/sb_946_bill_20111009_chaptered.html">SB 946</a>) that requires private health plans to provide coverage for certain intensive autism therapies, such as Applied Behavior Analysis.</p><p>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.</p><p>In a <i>California Healthline </i>Special Report by Deirdre Kennedy, experts discussed the benefits and shortcomings of the new autism coverage mandate.</p><p>The Special Report includes comments from:</p><ul><li>Nicole Evans, vice president for communications at the California Association of Health Plans; </li><li>Henry Loubet, chief strategy officer of theÂ insurance brokerageÂ firm Keenan; and </li><li>Lorri Unumb, vice president of state government affairs at Autism Speaks (Kennedy, <i>California Healthline</i>, 12/16).</li></ul><p>The complete transcript of this Special Report is <a href="https://www.kff.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2011/12/chlspecialreporttranscript121611.pdf">available as a PDF</a>.</p><ul><li><a href="https://californiahealthline.org/news/advocates-business-groups-raising-concerns-about-states-new-autism-coverage-mandate/?share=facebook">				Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)				Facebook			</a></li><li><a href="https://californiahealthline.org/news/advocates-business-groups-raising-concerns-about-states-new-autism-coverage-mandate/?share=linkedin">				Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)				LinkedIn			</a></li><li><a href="https://californiahealthline.org/news/advocates-business-groups-raising-concerns-about-states-new-autism-coverage-mandate/?share=x">				Click to share on X (Opens in new window)				X			</a></li><li><a href="mailto:?subject=%5BShared%20Post%5D%20Advocates%2C%20Business%20Groups%20Raising%20Concerns%20About%20State%27s%20New%20Autism%20Coverage%20Mandate&body=https%3A%2F%2Fcaliforniahealthline.org%2Fnews%2Fadvocates-business-groups-raising-concerns-about-states-new-autism-coverage-mandate%2F&share=email">				Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window)				Email			</a></li><li><a href="https://californiahealthline.org/news/advocates-business-groups-raising-concerns-about-states-new-autism-coverage-mandate/#print?share=print">				Click to print (Opens in new window)				Print			</a></li><li>				<a href="https://californiahealthline.org/news/advocates-business-groups-raising-concerns-about-states-new-autism-coverage-mandate/view/republish/">					Republish This Story				</a>			</li></ul><em><a href="https://kffhealthnews.org/about-us">KFF Health News</a> is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF—an independent source of health policy research, polling, and journalism. Learn more about <a href="https://www.kff.org/about-us">KFF</a>.</em><p><a href="https://californiahealthline.org/morning-briefing/">Subscribe</a> to KFF Health News' free Morning Briefing.</p>

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