ABA Bill

[Guest guest]

This is NOT in Texas, but sure extends ideas to what we can do;)

Candis...Look into Lorri's work. Thanks!

Hi -- My name is Lorri Unumb, and I have a 4-year-old son with

autism who receives intensive ABA services. We live in South

Carolina, and I am a law professor at the ton School of Law.

I have written a bill that is being debated in the South Carolina

legislature starting next month that requires insurance companies to

cover autism treatments, such as ABA, that are deemed medically

necessary by a doctor. There are other states that have similar

laws, but in South Carolina, as you probably know, insurance

companies typically don't pay for ABA (saying it's " experimental "

or " educational, not medical " or some other excuse).

The Senate has scheduled a PUBLIC HEARING ON THIS BILL for Thursday,

January 12 at 9:30 a.m. at the State House in Columbia. We need

lots of parents, therapists, teachers, doctors, and other interested

parties to show up! The hearing will be in Room 308 of the

Gressette Building before Senator of Greenville,

Senator of Oconee, Senator Kaye of

Columbia, Senator Nikki Setzler of Lexington, and Senator Ronnie

Cromer of Newberry.

Please come! If you can't get a babysitter, bring your child! Or

consider having your therapist and child come together. If you

can't come to the hearing but would like to help, please call your

legislator to ask him or her to co-sponsor the bill. The bill

number in the House is 4351, and the number in the Senate is 958.

(A copy of the bill is at

http://scautisminsurancebill.blogspot.com.) You can find out who

your state legislators are and get their phone numbers by entering

your zip code at www.scstatehouse.net.

Thanks for helping in this effort, and please contact me at

lunumb@... if you have any questions.

Thanks -- Lorri Unumb

Autism Research Survey online at:

http://www.inclusioncommunitytrainingcenter.org

Candis Firchau,MA,TLPC

Director

Inclusion Community Training Center

Advocacy, Behavioral Interventions, Counseling

and Training

This email is intended exclusively for the person to whom it was addressed. This

email is confidential. If you have received this email by error, please

disregard it.

[Guest guest]

This is something we probably need to seriously be checking into as far as

language of the bill, etc. for possible future application in Texas!!! I

would encourage everyone to take a look at the blog and the bill.

nna