Kansas health insurance routinely denies coverage for the diagnostic evaluation and medically necessary treatments for Autism such as Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA), speech therapy and occupational therapy. If enacted SB 12 (HB 2367) a.k.a. Kate’s Law would require that private Kansas health insurance companies cover the diagnosis and medically necessary treatment of Autism. Currently 15 states have already passed legislation similar to Kate’s Law, 19 other states are pending an autism health insurance mandate.
Parents of children with autism have the highest reported levels of depression and anxiety in parents with developmentally disabled children. It has been heart wrenching to see parents who wanted so badly to give their child the therapy that they could not afford, and scramble for fragmented services that were never covered by their Kansas health insurance carrier.