Or How about this:
Court: N.J. wrong to deny therapy for autistic children
Home News Tribune Online 01/21/07By MICHAEL RISPOLI
GANNETT STATE BUREAU TRENTON New Jersey was wrong in denying access to
necessary medical therapy for autistic children whose parents are covered under
the State Health Benefits Program, a state appeals court has ruled.
OAS_AD('Right3');
Occupational, speech and physical therapy, viewed as standard treatment for the
one in 166 children nationwide affected by autism spectrum disorders, did not
fall under the program provided by the State Health Benefits Commission, which
said coverage cannot be extended "to promote development beyond any level of
function previously demonstrated." In other words, because the boys could not
previously perform the skills taught in these therapies, the program would not
pay for them. A 1999 state law, however, requires coverage parity in medical
insurance, meaning state medical coverage for those affected by biologically
based mental illnesses must be the same for any other covered sickness. The two
rulings Wednesday struck down previous court decisions in finding the
medical-parity act was intended to cover such therapies. Art Ball, director
of government affairs at the Center for Outreach and Services for the Autism
Community, said his organization has fought for this
cause a long time. "The Legislature intended that these kids should get
services, and they didn't intend to create systems by which the state would
deny these services," said Ball. The state's Treasury Department, which
oversees the benefits program, is reviewing the ruling and assessing the impact
it will have on the State Health Benefits Program, said treasury spokesman Mark
Perkiss, who added it is too soon to determine if the department will appeal
the ruling. Prior to denying coverage, Horizon, the benefits administrator
for the state program, actually covered one of the child's therapy for 22
months. According to court documents, the commission's decision to exclude this
type of coverage "occurred after a rise in such claims had been recognized by
Horizon's medical director." "Insurance needs to be based on what people need
and what they are eligible for, not figuring out what you can run your business
on and deny people and get away with it," said Emmett
Ewyer, director of litigation for New Jersey Protection and Advocacy Inc.
E-mail article Print Subscribe 1){ nletter_link =
gcion_sign_up_form_url; } else { nletter_link =
"/apps/pbcs.dll/section?Category=REGISTER01&ForceUserreg=1"; } } else {
nletter_link = "/apps/pbcs.dll/section?Category=REGISTER01&ForceUserreg=1"; }
document.write('E-Mail Alerts'); //--> E-Mail Alerts
Post a Comment
---------------------------------
This article does not have any comments associated with it
.topix-head { font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;
font-size: 11px; color: #00000; padding-top: 10px} .topix-affil {
font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; color: #000000}
0 ) { document.write('
Related news from the Web
Latest headlines by topic:
'); for( i = 0; i ' + topixcats[i].name + '
' ); } document.write('
Powered by Topix.net'); } //-->
Related news from the Web
Latest headlines by topic:
Family
Kids
Autism
Health
Powered by Topix.net
Advertisement
---------------------------------
SALES OPTICAL - F/T, P/T
SALES (OPTICAL)- F/T, P/T positions avai...
---------------------------------
SALES SUPPORT
SALES SUPPORT ; Jamesburg A/V service fi...
---------------------------------
APPLIANCE REPAIR TECHNICIAN - f/t.5 yrs exp
APPLIANCE REPAIR TECHNICIAN - f/t. 5 yrs...
---------------------------------
C-ARM TECHExcellent working conditions
C-ARM TECH Excellent working conditions ...
---------------------------------
MEDICAL ASSISTANT- To assist Dr's in a busy medical ofc
MEDICAL ASSISTANT- To assist Dr's in a ...
---------------------------------
LEGAL - PARALEGAL busy Mon
LEGAL - PARALEGAL busy Mon. Cnty P. I. f...
---------------------------------
NANNY- FT Want a great Nannie? Call me
NANNY- FT Want a great Nannie? Call me. ...
---------------------------------
LPN/MEDICAL ASSISTANT- FT/PT
LPN/MEDICAL ASSISTANT- FT/PT. Busy aller...
---------------------------------
MAINTENANCE TECH For apt
MAINTENANCE TECH For apt. community in E...
---------------------------------
GUARDS/FLAGGERS F/T Day work
GUARDS/ FLAGGERS F/T Day work. Howell ar...
---------------------------------
MEDICALTECHNOLOGIST- F/T
MEDICAL TECHNOLOGIST- F/T. Cert. ASCP or...
---------------------------------
SPEECH LANGUAGE PATHOLOGISTFT/PT
SPEECH LANGUAGE PATHOLOGIST FT/PT Needed...
---------------------------------
MORTGAGE Expanding Wall Twp
MORTGAGE Expanding Wall Twp. office seek...
---------------------------------
LOCKER ROOM ATTEN DANTS- M/F
LOCKER ROOM ATTEN DANTS- M/F. The Atlant...
---------------------------------
RETAIL/CUSTOMER SVC./BILLING Computer exp
RETAIL/ CUSTOMER SVC./ BILLING Computer ...
---------------------------------
WASTE PROFESSIONALS Exp'd only
WASTE PROFESSIONALS Exp'd only. C/S, AP...
---------------------------------
All Top Jobs About Top Jobs
Partners: Jobs: CareerBuilder.com Cars: Cars.com Apartments:
Apartments.com Shopping: ShopLocal.com Copyright © 2007 Home News Tribune.
All rights reserved.
Use of this site signifies your agreement to the Terms of Service and Privacy
Policy.
Site design by Home News Tribune / Contact us USA Today USA Weekend
Gannett Co. Inc. Gannett Foundation if(typeof gcion_enable_bt !=
'undefined') { if(gcion_enable_bt) { document.writeln(''); } }
if(typeof gcion_enable_bt != 'undefined') {
if(gcion_enable_bt) { var gciYear = 2007; DM_addToLoc("zipcode",
escape(s.prop30)); DM_addToLoc("age", escape((gciYear-s.prop31)));
DM_addToLoc("gender", escape(s.prop32)); if(typeof OAS_sitepage !=
'undefined') { var gci_ssts=OAS_sitepage; var SSTS_NAMES = new
Array('Section','SubSection','Topic','SubTopic');
gci_ssts=gci_ssts.replace(/\/index\.htm.*$/,'');
gci_ssts=gci_ssts.replace(/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/,'');
if(!gci_ssts.match(/umbrella/)) {
gci_ssts=gci_ssts.replace(/^.*\.com\//,''); gci_ssts=gci_ssts.split("/");
var gci_sstslen=gci_ssts.length; for(var i=0; i
=0)document.write(unescape('%3C')+'\!-'+'-') //--> Starting
first parse
.Build 0: 470 ms (Misc)
Retrieve categories: 31ms
Read templates: 0ms
Read objects: 0ms
Scripts: 0ms
-->
---------------------------------
TV dinner still cooling?
Check out "Tonight's Picks" on Yahoo! TV.
--
Options?
www.otnow.com/mailman/options/otlist_otnow.com
Archive?
www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]
**************************************************************************************
Enroll in Boston University's post-professional Master of Science for OTs
Online. Gain the skills and credentials to propel your career.
www.otdegree.com/otn
**************************************************************************************
