Families of kids with autism closely watch insurance bill in Mo. Legislature
By: Health Insurance
Submitted: 2010-02-02 17:19:47 | Word Count: 381
The Dauer family recently had a relative who got a lung transplant after a lifetime of smoking, and insurance paid for the whole thing. By contrast, a diagnosis of autism in their daughter more than a year ago isn't covered at all by health insurance.
Rachelle Dauer never dreamed her life would look quite like this.
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"We've made it a lifestyle change," Dauer said.
There's never a dull moment, and never a moment without a life lesson.
"One time we were working on eye contact every time the kids went to school and, when they got home, they'd get this far (inches) from Sydney's face and say, 'Hi Syd, how are you?' so she had to look at them," said Dauer.
Sydney requires extra special care after being diagnosed with autism when she was 14 months old.
"They (people in general) think it's a sentence you've been given," said Dauer.
But mom and dad don't see it that way. They say their 3-year-old daughter has made great strides towards recovery.
"Within a year, she's saying, 'Hi mommy.' She knows her colors, her alphabet, she acknowledges her name, knows her phonetic sounds. We should have worked this hard with our other kids. They didn't even know this at this age," she said.
Recovery doesn't come cheap. If insurance had helped pay for Sydney's treatment, the family estimates they would have saved $20,000 a year in therapy, $5,000 in co-pays, and $100 a month in medications. It's all currently out-of-pocket expenses.
"Everything we're doing we know is working. It's just getting the insurance company to help back us.
Bills in the Missouri Legislature would let families qualify for up to $72,000 a year of coverage for autism therapy and treatment, and would require no limit on the amount of times a provider could see a family.
