Lawmakers, Insurers Battle over Coverage for Autism
When Elliott Epstein was diagnosed with autism three years ago, his parents' biggest challenge wasn't finding treatment. It was finding a way to pay for the hundreds of thousands of dollars in medical bills. “We call Elliott our ‘little house,’” Elliott's father, Kevin Epstein, said with a laugh, explaining that he and his wife paid out of pocket for their son’s treatment with money they’d saved for their first home. “It takes every penny you have, and every penny you don’t have.” The Santa Clara County couple enrolled Elliott when he was 3 in Applied Behavior Analysis, or ABA, an intensive, one-on-one behavior-based therapy that has been used to treat autism since the 1960s. But their Blue Shield health plan refused to pay. Blue Shield and other health[...]