Developmental Disabilities Advocacy & Kate's Law

Notes from March 17th - Mike Wasmer - DD Advocacy

• Autism coverage in the Kansas Legislature:
• The Autism waiver was the first time insurance or the state paid for autism treatment
• The first win was a bill to start a taskforce to study the coverage of autism
• 2 years later a bill passed covering autism treatments for state employees
• In the KS legislature there is a law that all changes to health insurance are required to be piloted on state employees
• 1 year later, after the legislature determined that coverage was cost effective, the program was extended to other state plans
• Mike joined Autism Speaks as the Director of Governmental Affairs. He worked with other state groups to pass legislation in every other state.
• In 2019 Tennessee was the last state to sign into law coverage for autism treatment
• Mike then moved with Lori Unumb to the Council of Autism Service Providers (CASP) where he is now the COO.
• Now that Autism therapy is funded by insurance, there is a lack of supply for a demand that soared overnight. The industry struggles to meet this demand and the quality of care has suffered.
• CASP sets the standards for the generally acceptable level of care. See: Provider Guidelines
• CASP is mentioned by name in several state parity laws
• CASP has also created Autism Commission on Quality (ACQ) for independent provider accreditation.

Key Questions to Ask a Potential ABA Clinic:

• What is the case load of a BCBA in their practice? (CASP stipulates 6-12 cases depending on severity; with BCaBA an additional 0-4)
• How are new BCBAs mentored? Are they observed by other BCBAs?
• What is the longest tenured BCBA? How long were they a BCBA prior to joining?
• What does monthly reporting to the parent look like?

Other Resources:

• Genetic testing exists to determine the rate at which a person metabolizes ADHD drugs. Supporting paper
• Autism Law Summit - Annual conference in October