May 06, 2008 11:54 pm
—
The Associated Press
OKLAHOMA CITY — Supporters of legislation that would require health insurance companies to cover the diagnosis and treatment of autism brought new political pressure Tuesday on Republican leaders in the Oklahoma House to schedule a hearing on the Senate-passed bill.
Sen. Jay Paul Gumm, who authored the measure known as “Nick’s Law,” urged GOP House Speaker Chris Benge of Tulsa to offer an alternative to the autism mandate if he is unwilling to allow House members to vote on it. The measure received bipartisan support in the Senate.
“You have given your answer to ‘Nick’s Law,’ and it is ‘No.’ My question, Mr. Speaker, is: What is your solution?” Gumm states in a letter that was hand-delivered to Benge’s office.
“We have placed ours on the table time and again only to be denied even a chance to present it in what is supposed to be ‘The People’s House’,” said Gumm, D-Durant.
In a response made public Tuesday afternoon, Benge said he is sympathetic to the plight of parents with autistic children and their high medical costs. But Benge said policy decisions must be based on how they affect everyone.
“While it is clear that Nick’s Law would benefit families with autistic children, we must determine with certainty the impact this mandate will have on access to health care for all Oklahomans,” Benge said.
The House speaker said he wants a financial analysis of the cost of an autism mandate to the public and the private sectors. Officials have said the mandate will cost state employee health plans $6 million a year but that the cost to private health care plans is not known.
Gumm expressed disappointment in Benge’s response and said it offered no constructive solutions.
“We simply want to know what’s the plan?” Gumm said. “It’s almost as though the speaker has decided to stick his head in the sand.
“They don’t work for the insurance companies over there, they work for the people. We’ll take this case to the people,” he said.
Meanwhile, Wayne Rohde of Edmond, whose 10-year-old son, Nick Rohde, suffers from autism and is the namesake of Nick’s Law, urged lawmakers to schedule a vote on the measure. Rohde and other supporters have said the bill would pass the 101-member House if House members had an opportunity to vote.
“We just want an up-or-down vote in the House of Representatives,” Rohde said. “We’ve been denied a discussion in the House.”
Opponents claim the autism mandate would drive up the cost of health insurance policies and make it unaffordable for many Oklahomans.
“There is substantial, reliable data that shows mandates do in fact drive up insurance premium costs and in turn force people to drop insurance because it is no longer affordable,” Benge said.
“Contrary to the popularly held opinion, mandates have little affect on insurance companies because they simply pass their increased costs on to the consumer,” he said.
There are about 650,000 uninsured Oklahomans and hundreds of thousands more on the edge of losing coverage, the speaker said.
But Rohde said similar mandates have been passed this year in Florida and Arizona and were previously approved in many other states, including Texas.
Supporters of the bill have accused House leaders of representing the interests of insurance companies instead of voters.
“Big insurance is deciding health care policy up here. That’s wrong,” Rohde said. “All they say is no to the most vulnerable people in our society — children with special needs. That is not leadership.
“What we need is good leadership in ‘The People’s House’.”
In his letter, Gumm urged Benge to “find some piece of common ground” with the parents of autistic children and others who support the mandate. Parents have said they spend up to $5,000 a month on behavioral treatments for autistic children that is not covered by their health insurance policies.
“Families continue to be torn asunder by the pressures of providing needed treatment for their children,” Gumm said. “More autistic children grow into adulthood and lives as wards of the state, increasing pressure on future state budgets.”
Gumm said he and Benge share a commitment to protecting the lives of the unborn and both have voted for anti-abortion legislation.
“One out of 150 Oklahoma children will be diagnosed with autism,” Gumm said. “Should not we continue to value those lives once they emerge from the womb? I do not believe a commitment to life should end once a child is born.
“This should not be a partisan issue; autism strikes Republican, Independent and Democratic families,” Gumm said. “We owe to these families, voters in every district in this state, to find some solution.
“Again, Mr. Speaker, we have made our proposal; what is yours?”
Copyright © 1999-2008 cnhi, inc.