Kansas Health Institute | Information For Policy Makers. Health for Kansans.

TOPEKA — A bill that sets the stage for requiring state-regulated insurance plans to cover autism was heard Wednesday in the Senate Financial institutions and Insurance Committee.

“It went well,” said Bill Craig, former chairman of the Kansas Autism Task Force. “I didn’t hear anything that made me think it wasn’t going anywhere.”

A similar measure stalled in the committee last year.

“There have been some revisions made that I think both sides can live with,” Craig said.

Senate Bill 554 directs the State Employees Health Care Commission to cover “services for the diagnosis and treatment of autism spectrum disorder,” keep track of the costs and file a report with the Legislature on or before March 1, 2012.

The commission oversees the state employees health insurance plans.

The 2013 Legislature will use the commission’s findings to decide whether to require state-regulated insurance plans to cover autism.

The bill includes limits on coverage costs:

• No more than $36,000 a year for children, birth to age 7.

• No more than $27,000 a year for children ages 7 to 19.

“Last year’s bill had a $70,000 limit, so this is reduction,” Craig said. “But as proponents we can live with that. The $70,000 figure was on the high end of coverage in other states. Now, we’re below the median.”

Marlee Carpenter, representing the Kansas Association of Health Plans, testified against the bill.

“Every health insurance mandate is brought to the Legislature with good intentions,” she said, “but if all were passed, the cost of health insurance would skyrocket.”

Brad Smoot, legislative council for Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Kansas City, said the companies oppose mandates but are willing to go along with “test tracking” the coverage on state employees.

The committee has not yet scheduled a vote on the bill.