| Right now Washington is battling over the fate of the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare. Some sort of change is inevitable and we think that families affected by autism need to try and influence the outcome. The House may vote later today on a healthcare reform bill but the debate will continue in the Senate. We believe that following are the minimum goals that any national healthcare law must achieve to be acceptable to the autism community. The House
Please click on the Take Action link to send a message to your member of the House and US Senators asking for these policy goals. And of course you can always modify the message to reflect your desires and experience.
- Pre-existing conditions must be covered, which is part of current law,
- People with autism and development disabilities must be covered either through affordable private insurance or Medicaid,
- Allow children to remain on parents’ policies until 26, which is part of current law,
- Autism diagnosis and monitoring must be covered,
- Speech, occupational, physical, and behavioral therapies must be covered at a levels that meets habilitative and rehabilitative needs,
- Co-pays, deductibles and premiums must be affordable,
- Demand price negotiations with drug companies which is forbidden by Obamacare,
- All healthcare must be delivered on the basis of informed consent of the patient, or the patient’s legal guardian,
- Participation must be voluntary
Healthcare is far to expensive in the United States compared to other developed countries. Median household income in the United States is about $55,000 and the median cost of health insurance for a family according to the Pew Charitable Trust study in more than $18,000. We spend 50% to 100% more than most Western European countries but have far worse health outcomes than those countries as well. We are paying way too much for an inferior product. Our medical industry is incredibly inefficient, we have the most expensive drugs in the world, the highest paid doctors, and fully a third of all healthcare dollars go to administrative overhead. Deductibles, co-pays and premiums all keep growing yet Americans are becoming less healthy, in fact, life expectancy for America’s largest ethnic group, white people, is actually declining.
We live in unchartered political times. But the voices of families affected by autism need to be heard. There are so many of us now that we can actually change the outcomes of elections. Please share this message with friends and family and please post to social networks.
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