Tony G, Tulsa (4/28/2009 6:12:39 AM)

Your republican govt hard at work.

Glad I don't have an autistic child, I pray for the people that do.

KJNOKIE, TULSA (4/28/2009 6:34:39 AM)

Once they are born, the Republicans no longer care about them.

justiceawaits, Claremore (4/28/2009 6:35:29 AM)

Parents of children with Autism should be getting help from the state.Requireing privatley held insurance companies to foot the bill is wrong.

droopy, wagoner (4/28/2009 6:55:51 AM)

If you don't win, pick up your marbles and go home, typical liberal response.

Ponderer, (4/28/2009 7:23:21 AM)

Dems are pushing a bill they know is too expensive to pass. It's a con game to make the GOP look stingy. Jerks playing games with these families.

Floyd Lawson, Mayberry (4/28/2009 7:35:42 AM)

KJ and Tony G, tell the truth. Have you read this bill? Do so, then read other state's laws. This one would make it worthwhile for every family with an autistic child to move in to the state. $75,000 per year, with no lifetime limit. The 3-year limit is meaningless with the 6-month review process included. Your representatives don't want this to pass, they want an issue. Louisiana has the most generous coverage with a $36,000 annual limit and 144,000 lifetime. Quit playing one-upsmanship, Representatives, and let's do something in the middle of what's already out there.

Bigbadbri, Broken Arrow (4/28/2009 7:36:40 AM)

Most Republicans only care about the fetus while it's in the womb. Once a child is born, they're on their own. I think the lack of compassion and frankly common sense is appalling.

Floyd Lawson, Mayberry (4/28/2009 7:39:39 AM)

And if there was a decent news organization in this state, the contents of the bill, and a simple analysis of the costs would be included in the story.

Eagle 4, Tulsa (4/28/2009 7:43:35 AM)

It's just so much cheaper for Big Insurance to buy the Republicans since they're so anti-human anyway.

HB 1312 died and had no insurance due to a pre-existing condition - it had compassion. Many autists, like my Elijah, can not speak but on Judgment Day they'll point some fingers, I'm sure.

Ponderer, (4/28/2009 8:10:07 AM)

Gumm and the other Dem's who have decided to use people like Eagle 4 as a wedge issue are more to blame than the Republicans.

Graychin, Eucha (4/28/2009 10:06:37 AM)

Disgusting.

Robyne Rohde, Edmond (4/28/2009 7:38:06 PM)

To Floyd Lawson: As the mother of Nick, I can tell you that you are 100% incorrect about Nick's Law.

FACT:
The coverage is for medically necessary, evidenced-based autism treatments. The annual cap is $36k (this is the same or lower than the 10 states who have passed similar legislation and the 4 additional states that will have passed autism insurance legislation by the end of session).

FACT:
There have been 20 cost/benefit actuarial reports completed on this topic, with 2 specifically for the state of Oklahoma, one of which was paid for by the state of Oklahoma and the other's methodology was published and peer reviewed. All 20 reports conclude the cost to the individual policy holders to be <1%.

FACT:
We have 7 years of historical data from the state of Indiana and the remaining 9 states concluding that no rise in insurance premiums can be attributed to autism insurance coverage.

FACT:
Legislative opposition to Nick’s Law reflects not the will of the people, but the financial power of the insurance industry.

Please email my husband who authored the bill together with Senator Jay Paul Gumm and Representative Brown if you need more information or would like to see the actuarial reports. wrohde at cox dot net

Or you can continue to listen to the drivel spewing from Benge, Sullivan and Coffee's (now there's someone we can trust) mouths. Oh and Louisanna is not the most generous in autism coverage, there are several states with no caps. I will post those momentarily...

Lastly, I can't imagine ANYONE with a child having a medical condition moving to this state.

You really should do your homework when commenting about something so near and dear to the hearts of 1000's of families in this state.

Robyne Rohde, Edmond (4/28/2009 10:02:01 PM)

To Floyd Lawson:
Wanted to get back with you on the information about the states with much more, shall I say it....liberal autism insurance coverage:

Pennsylvania-
$36k annual cap, Medicaid picks up what private insurance doesn't cover (co-pays, deductibles, etc.), NO LIFETIME CAP, and when the child ages out of their parent's private insurance, if the child has not lost the autism diagnosis (which 50% of them do with appropriate treatments) Medicaid picks up 100% of the lifetime medically necessary treatments.

Gosh, has anyone noticed or read about the influx of people to PA? They must be the most populus state in the union according to Floyd's logic.

Here's another for you:
Indiana-
No annual cap, No lifetime cap, the child, if he/she remains a dependent of the parent or however the policy is written is covered for as long as the premiums are paid.

Has everybody moved to Indiana? Might want to Wikopedia that one Floyd to get your good reference information and find out if the 2 million children in the US diagnosed with autism have suddenly moved to Pennsylvania or Indiana.

Floyd-neither state can attribute any rise in insurance premiums due to autism insurance coverage.

Anymore questions?

Floyd Lawson, Mayberry (5/5/2009 8:30:37 AM)

Robyne, $36,000 was offered last minute in the amendment attached by Gumm last month. $75,000 has been in every previous version of the bill. Granted, the move to the state for better coverage was hyperbole. I stand with my position that Oklahoma should seek middle ground for coverage, not most generous. I'm glad of this sign of compromise.

Floyd Lawson, Mayberry (5/5/2009 8:35:32 AM)

BTW, Robyne, exaggeration doesn't help your cause, either. The Autism Society counts 1 to 1.5 million Americans with the condition, adults and children. Not 2 million, though the increase in diagnoses that would come with universal unlimited coverage would quickly push the stats to your overstatement.

Wayne Rohde, (5/9/2009 10:34:57 PM)

Floyd
Nice try on the estimate. The real answer is that no one really knows. ASA uses Dept of Ed data. In Oklahoma, many schools use Developmentally Delayed instead of autism. Therefore, many kids are not counted.

As to having an universal unlimited mandate, we have never been asking for this.
Oh by the way, the House bill for Nick's Law has a fiscal cap of $ 50K.

Indiana has no cap, Texas has no cap, and SC has a cap of 50. MO is proposing 75. So much for your "richest in the nation" claim.

Caps from 35 to 75K does not drive the cost of the mandate. Because there is approx 10% of the autism population that will need services above the 35K limit and a sliding scale going down. Also, these children will begin to demand less benefit as they improve.

Negoiating the bill is something that we did not get a chance to do. Would love to have that discussion. However, the Republican Leadership did not want to. They just said hell no to this kids. So nice of them to care.