Hey everyone, this has potentially huge implications for everyone whose insurance limits have stood in the way of getting a formal assessment and/or treatment.

This item was in a recent e-mail posting by the Autism Society of America (www.autism-society.org):

"Earlier this month, the House Energy & Commerce Committee marked up the Paul Wellstone Mental Health and Addiction Equity Act of 2007, allowing the bill to clear its final legislative hurdle before going to the House floor. The legislation would prohibit treatment limits or the imposition of financial requirements on mental health and substance-related disorder benefits, unless similar limits and requirements are on all medical and surgical benefits. The House will likely take up the legislation, which has more than 270 bipartisan cosponsors, in the coming weeks. For more information, visit http://thomas.loc.gov/."

I visited the Thomas search engine and my representative is a co-sponsor of H.R. 1424.

It is unbelievable that we don't have this already, when it is so very sorely needed.

Speaking from my own experience, my description of health care benefits said autism would be covered at the "medical" level of 100 percent minus copay and deductible but when I presented my insurance provider with a psychologist's billing code, I was told that it would cover "80 percent up to $25 per visit."

There is such a huge disconnect between what the insurer was willing to pay and what an assessment would actually cost (hundreds of dollars, at least) that the assessment is presently out of reach. The insurance company might as well not cover anything if it will only pay $25.

I've contacted my representative and thanked him for his support in co-sponsoring H.R. 1424. Support seems pretty bipartisan, which gives me hope that the house will transcend politics and do the right thing with this bill.