(no subject)

[Guest guest]

The N.Y.S. Senator you referred to is L. Seward. His main points were:

"I worry that this measure would have a significant impact on insurance premiums and would result in too many people losing their coverage because of the cost. Studies show that, for every one percent increase in insurance premiums, approximately 30,000 New Yorkers would lose their health insurance."

"There are nearly three million New Yorkers who currently do not have health insurance. The higher the premiums from mandates on coverage for various conditions, including autism spectrum disorders, would inevitably lead to further increases in the number of uninsured in the state."

"As chairman of the Senate Insurance Committee, I believe that my responsibility is to not only ensure that health insurance meets the health care needs of individuals but to also ensure that people can afford it."

I live in N.Y.S., but, the Senator does not represent my own district. However, I found his response an excellent opportunity to educate him with statistics concerning autism and childhood development problems that are inevitably going to impact the financial resources of N.Y.S public schools and his district community health/welfare resources for decades to come. While I can understand his immediate concern over the rising insurance costs associated with these problems, he is being extremely shortsighted not to realize his long-term priority ought to be rigorously supporting parents desperate to learn both the cause and cure for autism. Solve the cause and cure for autism and his insurance companies will benefit far more than they are likely to benefit from simply denying coverage to desperate parents.

In any event, should anyone feel the need to write him with your own opinions on this comments, I would respectfully suggest you not alienate him from our cause by overstating your disappointment in him. At the very least, the Senator took the time to respond to our email effort asking for his support on the bill before his committee. That is far more than I can say for President and Ms. Bush and Senator Frist, who are among many others who simply ignore my letters.