Autism Bill fails in Virginia

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Autism Coverage Bill Fails

Senate's Move, House Panel's Inaction Anger Advocates

By Fredrick Kunkle

Washington Post Staff Writer

Thursday, February 12, 2009; B07

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-

dyn/content/article/2009/02/11/AR2009021104165.html

RICHMOND, Feb. 11 -- The Senate has effectively killed a bill that

would have required insurers to cover autistic children, pleasing

business lobbies that argued against new mandates but enraging

parents who vowed revenge at the polls.

The fight over mandating autism coverage has gathered intensity

nationwide and resonated especially strongly in Loudoun County and

other fast-growing areas of Northern Virginia with high numbers of

children.

Anger about the bill's defeat late Tuesday was magnified by what

appeared to be a flip remark by a Northern Virginia lawmaker who had

offered qualified backing for the cause. Moments after the vote on

the bill concluded a late session, Majority Leader L. Saslaw

(D-Fairfax) took the floor.

" I'd inquire of the clerk: Who won? " Saslaw said with a grin. " We had

a pool going. "

The Senate clerk replied with a smile: " That's not appropriate,

senator. "

Advocates of the bill thought Saslaw's question referred to a wager

on the bill's fate.

" Our parents just felt like their kids were made some sort of a joke,

an office wager, " said Judith Ursitti, regional director for Autism

Speaks, a nonprofit organization.

But Saslaw, who had attempted to broker a compromise on the autism

bill, said yesterday that his joke was a victim of bad timing. The

office pool he referred to, Saslaw said, concerned the hour at which

the Senate's session would end. Saslaw said it was tradition to wager

on the timing of " crossover, " the final session when each chamber

concludes work on legislation that must be referred to its

counterpart. Saslaw said he regretted the bill's failure.

" I did everything I could to get this thing out of here, " he said.

More than 100 people, including educators, lawmakers, and families

with autistic children, assembled in July at a community center in

Lansdowne on the Potomac to organize their campaign. They enlisted

not only other parents of autistic children but also their friends in

what became known as the Loudoun Project. They traveled by the

busload to the capital and trooped to lawmakers' offices wearing huge

buttons saying, " Autism Votes in Virginia, " often with their autistic

children in tow.

" We promised a daily presence, " said Pasquale " Pat " DiBari, a

Leesburg resident and early organizer. " We really went above and

beyond to tell legislators our personal stories. "

Allying themselves with Autism Speaks, parents entered about 20,000

supporters into their database, and they flooded lawmakers' inboxes

with more than 7,000 e-mails, winning bipartisan backing from Dels.

G. Marshall (R-Prince ) and E. Poisson (D-

Loudoun). Sen. Jill Holtzman Vogel (R-Winchester) carried a bill in

the Senate.

But the legislation met resistance from the business community, which

argued that a recession was the worst time to impose a costly mandate.

" I'm very sympathetic to the parents and children caught up in this

terrible condition, " said Hugh Keogh, president of the Virginia

Chamber of Commerce. " [but] our numbers show a decreasing amount of

employers who are able to offer health-care insurance every year, and

mandates are a part of that. "

Reginald N. , a lobbyist for the Virginia Association of Health

Plans, said one estimate suggested that the costs of autism coverage

could be as much as $40 million a year in Virginia, despite a

provision that would cap expenses at $36,000 per child per year.

" It would probably become the second most expensive mandate in

Virginia, and maybe the first, " said.

The bill quickly met resistance. The House Commerce and Labor

Committee took no action on it, infuriating advocates who noted the

unpleasant irony that the bill suffered the same fate as some of

their children. " To receive the silent treatment was really

stunning, " DiBari, 40, said.

Jodi Folta, 39, an accountant who lives in Ashburn, said advocates

were mystified by the actions of Del. Rust (R-Fairfax),

a member of the Commerce and Labor Committee. Rust appeared to be a

friend of the cause, turning up at a rally on the capitol grounds,

but he showed no effort to advance it, Folta said.

" He's on our unhappy list, " Folta said.

Rust did not respond to a message at his office seeking comment.

In the Senate, Vogel sought compromise by limiting the mandated

coverage to children younger than 12. Saslaw cut the age further, to

6 years old. But efforts at compromise failed.

" I've struggled with this bill, and I think everybody here has

struggled with this bill, " said Sen. W. Stolle (R-Virginia

Beach) before asking that the bill go back to the Finance Committee,

where it would effectively die this year. " The legislative process is

an ugly process, and this has been particularly ugly. "

Staff writer Tim Craig contributed to this report.