Aims to define WA Mental Health Parity, requires private insurance to cover diagnosis and treatment of autism spectrum disorders.
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What should an autism benefit look like
Insurance Carriers: fully funded private health plans and public employees plans
Coverage should include:
Treatment of autism spectrum disorders prescribed by a licensed physician or licensed psychologist who determines the care to be medically necessary, including, but not limited to:
(i) Behavioral health treatment;
(ii) Pharmacy care;
(iii) Psychiatric care;
(iv) Psychological care;
(v) Therapeutic care;
Limits of coverage: same as WA mental Health Parity, same limits and caps applied to medical and surgical benefits(no arbitrary limits on age or $$$ caps). Care has to be provided by Licensed or Certified providers credentialed through WA Dept. of Health.
The Parity Act took full effect on July 1, 2010. As of that date, insurers cannot impose treatment limitations on mental health services, if they do not impose comparable limitations on treatment for medical and surgical care.
States with Autism Insurance Mandated Benefits
State Laws specifically requiring coverage of Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA) and multidisciplinary medically necessary treatments are found in 29 states: AZ, AR, CA, CO, CT, FL, IA, IL, IN, KS, KY, LA, MA, ME, MI, MO, MT, NH, NJ, NM, NV, PA, RI, SC, TX, VA,VT, WI & WV. Similar bills have been introduced and are pending in 14 more states.
Self Insured employers in WA State that offer Autism benefits & coverage of evidence based treatments include AOL, Cisco, Deloite, Eli Lilly, Fred Hutch Cancer Research center, Google, Home Depot, IBM, Intel, Michelin, Microsoft, Oracle, Symantec, Wells Fargo, as well as Active Military Echo benefits.
