Starting next July, the bill will require private insurers to cover diagnosis and treatment of autism spectrum disorders, up to $36,000 annually, for those under 21. That includes coverage for applied behavioral analysis therapy – or treatment focusing on teaching social, verbal and other skills to help shape behavior – which advocates say is essential to treating the disorder.

For treatments above the $36,000 cap, families, regardless of income, can still turn to the state’s Medicaid program to fill in the gap. Health plans covering businesses with fewer than 50 employees are exempt from the bill.

Rendell and others who championed the issue believe Pennsylvania’s autism-insurance law is among the strongest in the country.  read more »

A state health care group that works to save Pennsylvanians money on health care could be out of a job.

The Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council employs more than 40 people in its Harrisburg office.

The group studies and compiles healthcare options without bias and is funded through the state budget.

The House and Senate have passed different bills authorizing the renewal of the group, but neither bill may make it into the budget in time.

Without state funding, the workers could be jobless until the General Assembly reconvenes in the fall.
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An expansion in Pennsylvania’s Children’s Health Insurance Program helped add more than 15,000 children to the program in a year, according to the state Department of Insurance.

The program, one of the country’s oldest and most successful, grew by nearly 3,000 from February to April, leaving about 4 percent of children in the state without health insurance, one of the lowest percentages in the country, said George Hoover, the state’s deputy insurance commissioner. Texas has the highest percentage, according to the U.S. Census, with more than 21 percent of children uninsured.  read more »

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Lawmakers brace for battle over CHIP

Gov. Ed Rendell vowed Tuesday to target for defeat Republican lawmakers who oppose his proposals for expanding health insurance and are seeking re-election.

‘‘Woe to anyone who doesn’t support health care come November — not just from me, but from their citizens,’‘ Rendell told reporters. ‘‘There’s a day of reckoning coming for health care, and that’s coming on the first Tuesday of November.’‘

Rendell also said the state will no longer reimburse hospitals for costs related to medical errors affecting patients on medical assistance.  read more »

A few of us discussed healthcare here and predicted the same thing:

The escalating battle over Gov. Ed Rendell’s plan to extend health insurance to 767,000 uninsured Pennsylvanians carries political dangers for both Democrats and Republicans in the Legislature.

For Democrats, there is the risk of voting for higher taxes in a year when they’re running for re-election. Mr. Rendell’s health insurance plan, called Cover All Pennsylvanians, or CAP, would be funded in three ways, and two of them are tax increases.