Can someone please explain to me why these companies are forced to?
After reading this article on it, I’ve been trying to figure it out, and I can’t. I really don’t understand why the private insurance companies are forced to cover this? What are they insuring against?
Or are these some kind of governmental insurance agencies?
I’m sorry, I’m just honestly baffled by this and was wondering if someone could tell me what the hell’s going on.
The way to understand it is that most parents are <i>already</i> paying for health insurance, or receive insurance plans from their employers. These plans generally include their kids. So by arguing that autism insurance should be a mandatory part of all health insurance plans, these parents of autistic kids are basically just trying to get insurance companies to pay them more.
It all sounds very touchy-feely friendly, and the only losers are rich insurance companies, right?
No, actually. To remain profitable, insurance companies have to raise prices based on how much they’re dishing out for autistic kids. This raises health insurance prices for everyone: either they pay more insurance directly, or get lower salaries because their employers have to pay more. That’s fine with parents of autistic kids; they have a huge net savings. But parents of non-autistic kids get shafted, and have to pay for treatment of autistic kids.
So this amounts to a state-wide <i>tax</i> whose proceeds go <i>only</i> to autistic families. If touchy-feely voters realized this, and that professional autism treatments are incredibly expensive and only faintly more effective than parental treatment, they may vote less sentimentally.
If you hate sentimentality so much, why don’t you marry it?
Because you stole her from me with your pouty lips, Adonis frame and silky smooth-talking ways. 
My problem with all of this is how little is known about the long-term effects of Autism and and the effects of treatments given to those who have Autism. The question is whether or not these special therapies do more for an Autistic child than an attentive parent can provide.
The one thing I have to agree with in that article though is that school systems should not be the sole provider of special needs and therapy. Frankly, there are some schools out there that shouldn’t even be trusted with the responsibility of providing for normal children let alone those with special needs. And if it means raising insurance a bit to help those who can’t get help from their parents and are denied help from institutions like public schools then I’m all for it.
Sometimes intensive therapy during infancy can help autistic children become more normal. But after infancy, there’s little that can be done.
Mental illness sucks, what more can we say?
I was simply amazed that this is sliding at first, but now that I’ve had the chance to think about it, it makes sense that its happening. Autism is in fashion, its one of those new buzzwords people throw around everywhere so groups managed to get through to the government to make it think that they could do something because of all the publicity. It is funny to see how anti-nanny state Americans are but with just enough publicity, they’ll agree to just about anything.
Personally, as a future medical professional, I don’t support this. There are much better and effective ways this money could be spent on many more patients and diseases that have a much better prognosis.
Autistics are just pussies, I say
Our marriage sucks. She’s all clingy.