Scott Taylor of Garner came to President Barack Obama's health care town hall worried about the lack of coverage for autism.
Taylor, a Democrat, has two sons. His 7-year-old has autism and his 9-year-old has Asperger's Syndrome. Taylor's health insurance, provided through work, is with Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina, Michael Biesecker reports.
His plan covers some therapy for his sons, but he said it won't pay for speech therapy for his younger son because it was classified as an "educational" issue, not a health one.
Taylor is watching two bills in Congress that would force insurance providers to provide better coverage to families coping with autism. Taylor said he has tried, unsuccessfully, to get Sen. Richard Burr on the phone to talk about the issue.
If he gets to ask a question today, he would ask Obama why autism isn't included in the reform package.
"Nobody is doing anything," he said.
Comments
Re: Health care: 'Nobody is doing anything'
July 29, 2009 - 5:40pm — Scotter67Actually, that was me. And my son has been receiving therapy until recently. After over two years of BC/BS paying for this treatment, someone coded the claim as resulting from autism and it was kicked back. This is because, insurance companies routinely exclude coverage for Autism. They claim that this is an educational issue. Perhaps this is why you had such difficulty finding a provider in your area.
Best of luck with your son. If you are like me, you would do anything to help him.
Re: Health care: 'Nobody is doing anything'
July 29, 2009 - 1:13pm — jeffreyhsykesAre we really to believe this gentleman cannot get speech therapy for his son? I have to call bs because my 4yo requires speech therapy and it was like pulling teeth to find him a provider in my rural county, but I did get him enrolled in speech services through his pre-school.
We don't need a government takeover of health insurance so a guy can get speech therapy for his son.