Autism bill passes full House

An autism insurance reform bill unanimously passed the full House floor Thursday and now heads to the Senate.

House Bill 885 would require health insurance policies to cover autism treatment, and specifically Applied Behavior Analysis, for Mississippi children ages 2-8.

"Every once in a while you get up here and you get a fast pitch, one that you ought to hit outta the park," said state Rep. Charles Busby, R-Pascagoula, referring to the bill.

It now heads to the Senate, which has a similar bill awaiting vote on its full floor.

"It's a wonderful bill," said state Rep. Steve Holland, D-Plantersville. "Good work."

Backed by Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann and more than two dozen lawmakers, the measures also would create the Mississippi Autism Board to issue and revoke ABA licenses, investigate potential violations, and generally regulate the profession.

Among the primary reasons Mississippi lacks services, autism experts say, is that health insurers here aren't required to cover the treatments deemed most beneficial to this population. The gold standard of treatments, especially for younger children with autism, is a daily regimen of ABA.

ABA usually involves one-on-one work with a child in a controlled environment to teach them the social and behavioral skills necessary for lifelong learning and independent living.

Because few Mississippi residents can afford the out-of-pocket expense, there's not a big market in the state for providers. Thus, Hosemann said, only about a dozen or so have located here – not nearly enough to serve the estimated 10,174 Mississippi children living with autism.

Contact Emily Le Coz at elecoz@jackson.gannett.com or (601) 961-7249. Follow @emily_lecoz on Twitter.