Please forgive me if you receive this email more than once, this is very important time sensitive information that I need to get out.
Senate Bill 1 is in regards the the Mental Health Parity Act. This bill was passed last session, and now committees and meetings are being formed to decided how this bill will read to provide services for those covered under the bill. As of this time, it is unknown if autism will be covered under the Mental Health Parity act. As parents we need to act NOW. The first tentative meeting date is set for the end of January, and if we'd like a parent representative on this committee our voices must be heard.
This morning I spoke with Shelley Bain from the Oregon Insurance Division on the phone. She has heard from many parents of autistic children regarding this bill and is listening to our concerns. She feels it would be important and helpful for a parent to be on this committee and for all of us parents to stay involved and attend these meetings. She has asked that I pass along her information and she wants to hear from us parents. Please, if you can, email her, and let her know that autism needs to be covered, its is going to be a first step of many for us to have some coverage in this state. Shelley prefers email, so that she may print them out and present them to the committee and show how many of us are concerned. If you cannot email, you may also call or fax her, or call her if you have any questions regarding this bill, she is more than happy to answer them. Shelley will also be able to put you on an email list to get information on upcoming dates for the meetings. Meetings that we as parents MUST be at.
Please forward and pass this email on to any parent with an autistic child(ren) in Oregon, we need to act this week, by January 6th.
Shelley's Information:
Shelley D Bain, JD
Senior Policy Analyst,
Oregon Insurance Division
350 Winter St NE Room 440
Salem, Oregon
Email: shelley.d.bain@state.or.us
Phone: 503-947-7216
Fax: 503-378-4351
Mailing Address:
P.O. Box 14480
Salem, OR 97309-0405
Thank You for your help on this!
My contact information also may be passed along:
Stacy Cayce
Unlocking Autism Oregon Rep.
stacyc75@gmail.com
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SB1 text can be found HERE
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More on SB1 from KindTree.org who was also very helpful in getting the word out. Thank You!
Question - Do you know whether the newly passed Mental Health Parity Law is going to have any positive changes for families trying to pay for therapy services for their children with autism?
Regina Frey,
Eugene
Reply from Senator Vicki Walker:
The short answer to the inquiry is that we do not know yet which exact disorders will be covered and which ones will not be covered.
Basically, the law was written more broadly versus some mental health parity bills from other states that specify which type of mental health disorders a parity law will cover (e.g., coverage for schizophrenia only, etc). Given that Oregon's law is more broadly written, it is likely that the vast majority of bona fide mental health disorders will be covered. However, just like there are "limitations and exclusions" in just about all regular health care plans (ie, some physical health treatments or certain physical health conditions are not covered by an insurance plan), there likely will be some allowable mental health limitations and exclusions that insurance companies will be allowed when the new law is implemented.
Starting in 2006, the Insurance Division will begin the rule making process for the new law, perhaps in conjunction with other state agencies such as the office of mental health. Given that this law has pretty broad issues, the division may set up a work group to discuss and start to refine the draft rules before there is a public hearing. If the public is interested, they can request a copy of the draft rules (that the Dept of Human Services will eventually distribute for comments) and they can get a notice of when and where DHS will hold one or more public hearings on the rules. Contact Katy.King@state.or.us to get on the list for the rules and related notices.
Sorry I cannot be more specific. The Insurance Division is very reluctant to say a whole lot more until they go through the rule-making process as they restricted from doing so and may even be liable if they were to advise before the rules are established.
Sen Walker [Walker.Sen@state.or.us]
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