Defeat Autism Now! (DAN!) Conference April 3rd-7th

The Annual East Coast Defeat Autism Now! (DAN!) Conference will be held in Cherry Hill, NJ from Thursday, April 3rd to Sunday, April 6th (for parents) and Monday, April 7th (for doctors and clinicians). I attended last year's conference in Alexandria, VA - and it was AWESOME! If you have never attended a DAN! Conference before, I highly recommend that you go because it WILL be the best and most informative conference that you have attended or will ever attend. Here is the website where you can register for the DAN! Conference:

http://www.defeatautismnow.com/

This conference is for anyone who wants to find and provide REAL help for their children, no matter if you are a parent, grandparent, teacher, aide, therapist, nurse, doctor, etc...

I am driving to the conference with a friend of mine Thursday morning and I know of a few others that are going as well. If you are interested in going to the DAN! Conference and potentially cut down on your travel and hotel costs, let me know and I will do all I can to get you connected with others that are going to the conference as well.

Also, if you have any questions about the DAN! Conference, please feel free to contact me at jamie_bailey@netzero.com with any questions you may have. I hope to see you there!!!

Center for Autism and Related Disorders Video

I received this over the weekend and wanted to share this with you all.. C.A.R.D. has been preparing a Recovery Video for some time now, and this is the precursor to the video. Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SkOo7_9pxBU

Autism Workshop this Saturday (3/15)

The latest in the Autism Workshops in Beckley will be occurring again this Saturday at 10 AM at the Crossroads Kroger's.

Also, for those of you that would be interested, Michael Payne (Nutritionist from Richmond, VA, and one of the professionals that I take my son to see for his biomedical protocol) will be in Beckley to see parents and their children. He will be available from 2 PM on Friday and also after 2 PM on Saturday.

If you are interested in making an appointment to meet with Michael Payne, please contact his office at 804-523-7801, or Janet Lintala at 304-254-9113 to schedule this appointment.

Government Concedes Vaccines Cause Autism!!!

LANDMARK FEDERAL COURT CONCESSION

CHILD DEVELOPED AUTISM

FROM VACCINES

CHILD JOINS PARENTS IN PRESS CONFERENCE ABOUT THIS

HISTORIC RESULT TOMORROW

AT THE ATLANTA FEDERAL COURTHOUSE

PRESS CONFERENCE TOMORROW

THURSDAY, MARCH 6, 2008

11:30 AM

U.S. FEDERAL COURTHOUSE STEPS
75 SPRING STREET
ATLANTA, GEORGIA

A couple from Atlanta, Georgia will join with their 9-year-old daughter in a press conference discussing their daughter's development of autism from vaccines.

This landmark court case alleged that autism was caused by childhood vaccines and was scheduled to be heard as a test case before the concession was made.

The Centers for Disease Control have estimated that 1 in 150 children have autism, and many have linked the autism epidemic in this country to the mercury based preservative used in childhood vaccines.

Members of the media may contact Todd Scott at 212-564-4692 or 516-312-6573 for information.

NOTE: “Evidence of Harm” author and journalist David Kirby is available for comment on this breaking news: He can be reached at 718-230-4250 – www.evidenceofharm.com.

WSAZ Cover Story

This aired tonight...

http://www.wsaz.com/coverstory/headlines/16317816.html

Protest Rally is a No-Go

Sorry I haven't been in touch in a while everyone, I have had some pretty big personal things occur recently that I have had to catch up on since Thursday and have been completely out of pocket during that time period.

In relation to the protest rally, it is not going to happen. I have received a total of about 10 to 12 emails/phone calls of those interested in participating and though we potentially have the ability to reach about 30some people show up - this is not enough to have a protest rally, or a rally of any kind. Plus, I have received news that a special committee is being planned to address autism spectrum disorder as a whole during the interim sessions this year - which, if handled correctly, would be a great step for us. This way we can address the insurance issue, educational issues, lack of services available in the state, Medicaid, etc... all out of one group - but again, we will need to have the appropriate people presenting at these monthly sessions for this to be completely effective.

Media Coverage

I am getting ready to leave for Charleston to meet with reporters from WSAZ, Fox 11, and WV Public Broadcast Radio and tell them how our kids got SCREWED by Delegate White!!! Keep your eyes open for these broadcasts if you are in this viewing area, and check their websites later on tonight if you can... I'll check back in when I can...

Anyone up for a Protest Rally???

I received a GREAT idea from Kathy Fuller, Executive Director of the Augusta Levy Learning Center. She suggested a Protest Rally sometime next week (last week of session), of which I think this is an awesome idea!!! It lets all of our elected officials know how we REALLY feel about this decision and would be great for the media to cover...

The thing is that we would need a really good turn out for this... Having somewhere between 20-30 people won't do it - not even close!!! We will need EVERYONE to show up for this with signs and ready to let them all know where we stand on this issue. So, I am up for this protest rally, but we will need the support and attendence from most - if not all of you reading this blog that supports our insurnace bill.

If you can commit to this rally, please contact me immediately at jamie_bailey@netzero.com so I can begin making the arrangements!!!

Jamie

The Pressure Cooker is now ON!!!

I have spent the majority of my day contacting all of the news media organizations that I can: WCHS, WOWK, WSAZ, MetroNews, Charleston Gazette, Charleston Daily Mail, WV Public Radio, Williamson Daily News (newspaper from Delegate White's voting district - Mingo County), WBOY, and WDTV. Some are planning to try and catch him today, some are waiting for tomorrow, and others are asking when I can get back into town to do an interview with them.

I hope that you all can do the same... If any of these news outlets are in your area, call them and tell them about a potential story they should be interested in, give them the info, and keep this rolling. If the stations you watch are not listed here, contact them and get this media coverage active in your area. I want to see the pressure cooker up on HIGH from now (at least) until the end of the regular session to let him know what a coward he is and what he did to not help our kids is unacceptable!!! He can vote to give himself a raise, BUT he can't help our children...

I'm begging you guys to turn the heat up on Delegate Harry Keith White until the last day of session next Saturday! I really want him to regret his decision of not caring about our kids and just passing the buck the way EVERYONE else has that we have ever had to deal with in relation to our children...

Latest

I had a LONG conversation with who I believe is the primary staff member from the finance committee Monday morning - about 1 1/2 hours to be exact. After venting for the first hour, I informed him that we still have time to get someting to the floor that will start helping our kids. I also said that it doesn't have to be a "perfect world" scenario for any party at this point, but it can be a start of change to begin supporting our children with ASD's in our state. I even told him that I would take the next three days off of work to simply lock myself behind a desk with one or more people to bang this out, get something we can all nod our heads on, and get it moving. The response I received was that he would take it to the chairman and I would be contacted later... Since then, I have heard NOTHING!!! I even called the offices, and NOTHING!!! So, with much regret of me saying this since tomorrow is the deadline, it looks as if we have been stonewalled again this year and the buck has officially been passed to another damn study committee.

I feel like I did everything that I could do to simply get something, ANYTHING started to begin helping our children and supporting our parents - but in the end, we lost out to political agendas and personal self-interest thanks to Delegate White. Plus, the insurance companies did everything they could to make sure that they still possessed the license to steal from our children and their families.

I want to take this opportunity to thank everyone that support this bill by calling, emailing, faxing, and showing up at the capitol this year. Though we didn't get our bill passed this year - our voices WERE heard! We made a tremendous impact at the capitol and got the attention of the ENTIRE Legislature. They now know that we truly are everywhere, and we are not going away.

On a personal note, I want to say that I'm sorry... I'm sorry that it didn't happen this year... I'm sorry that we were lied to... I'm sorry that I wasn't able to find the way to move this bill out of the finance committee... I'm sorry that this was one more stressful thing in our lives that we didn't want to have happen or need to have happen to us - because god knows we deal with enough... And I'm sorry if I have let any of you down in this process... I came into this regular session about as well prepared as I thought and knew to be. I had to make some adjustments on the fly and retrieve new paperwork, but that is all part of this game/process, and I was able to do it pretty quickly thanks to my fellow board members and other state district leaders with A-CHAMP!!! (A special thanks goes out to you all...) Each time I went to the capitol, I used my son and all of the other children I have met or seen pictures of as my motivation (and especially those children I have not met or know of at this point) to work that much harder each time I was there to get this bill passed. The children I have met or seen (like Cody, Jonathon, Russell, Aiden, Hayden, Bryson, McKensie, Laura, Chase, Dominic, Kaycie, Kyle, Alexis, Tyler, Michael, Justin, and Jackie - along with my son Cameron) have been my continuing inspiration and driving force to pound that pavement, have our voices heard and get the RIGHT THINGS DONE FOR OUR CHILDREN AND THEIR FAMILIES!!! And all of our children will continue to be my inspiration as we move forward with this resolution... The bill maybe stalled this session, but thanks to this resolution, I have a WHOLE LOT MORE HELL TO RAISE this year!!!

So, here's the plan as far as I see at at this point:
1) Make Delegate White's life at the capitol a living hell until session ends... I'm going to call, email, fax, write letters, and make ONE MORE visit to his office to let him personally know what I think about this entire situation and I fully plan on asking him "Why do you not care about our children?", and I'm going to DEMAND an answer - with the caveut that ingorance and stupidity is not an answer for him anymore!!! Plus, through some media in his face for a week and a half, and he will be the happiest guy in the Legislature when all is said and done with this session.
2) Work the HCR 72 Resolution as much as possible, get the right people in there, make sure the committee avoids the people that have no business talking to the committee on behalf of autism, and do everything I can to unravel it ALL - problems with insurance, eductaional system, Medicaid, available services in the state, etc... and really let this committee know what we are TRULY dealing with day in and day out.

The battle may have been lost this session, but we WILL win this war of injustice and unjust discrimination against our children. It will be a fight, likely a long one, but with the support we had this session, and the continuing growth of support each and every day, we WILL come out on top in the end...

My letter to the finance committee

Members of the Finance Committee,
As many of you may know (either from face to face discussions or from previous emails), my name is Jamie Bailey - I am a father of a six year old son with autism, an advocate for autism rights in our state, lifelong resident of WV and current resident of Bridgeport, and a frequent visitor of the capitol this session to support the passing of HB 4091. I was informed this evening, to my dismay, about the action taken in today's Finance Committee Meeting to turn HB 4091 into a yearlong study resolution (HCR 72) - again. There are several problems that I have in relation to this:

1) This was the SAME action taken last year (aka - 2007's HCR 81). HCR 81 was assigned to the Select Committee D of Health Study Committee and was discussed once throughout the entire year. Though opportunities presented themselves throughout the year, it was discussed only once. So, essentially we waited an entire year to discuss it for approximately one hour so we could get to this session and take the same action again... What exactly is this doing for our children in WV with autism spectrum disorder right now? Absolutely nothing! An entire year passed in 2007 with no action taken to help our children with ASD's whatsoever, and it is evident that no one wants to stand up for our children this year either. My sole hope in relation to this year's version is that the committee that will receive this assignment will talk about this issue more than once and that individuals to provide presentations to this committee that actually know what they are talking about - more specifically parents, ABA (Applied Behavioral Analysis) trained personnel, and DAN! (Defeat Autism Now!) practitioners. Bringing in anyone else would simply be a waste of the committee's time, and so far our ASD children have lost too much time through this process. Just by comparing HCR 72 to HCR 81, you will see that the same action at this time has been taken:
HCR 72 (2008)Requesting the Joint Committee on Government and Finance to study existing autism services

HCR 81 (2007)Requesting the Joint Committee on Government and Finance study the statistical rate of autism among this state's population and to study existing autism services in this state

2) This "decision" was made on bogus financial estimates that PEIA could not even prove to be true. Personally, I found the multiple Fiscal Notes submitted by PEIA to be inaccurate and insulting, and though I had requested to Mike Adkins (Deputy Director of PEIA) to send this proof to me for review, not surprisingly I have yet to receive them. Has anyone requested that PEIA actually prove their overestimated financial claims in relation to HB 4091? If not, I would suggest that someone do so. Here the problems areas with their "fiscal notes:
"Presently, PEIA does pay for diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder." Not according to a couple dozen parents that contacted me about the coverage they received for a diagnosis through PEIA.
The resulting claims for this type of testing costs the Plan approximately $50,000 per year." Provide the data that supports this statement.
"There are 28,001 children insured by PEIA that could be between the ages 2 and 15 and that population would have the probability of the autism spectrum disorder based upon the standard definition of the disorder of .65%, or approximately 182 members." Why 2 through 15, especially when the average age of diagnosis in this state is 4 years and 6 months of age? And based on the fact they "studied" South Carolina's autism insurance bill it is apparent they studied it too closely, where they used the 0.65% rate from SC and the actual rate of ASD in WV is 0.71%, which would actually equal 199 members. (See the 2007 CDC Autism Study for facts and figures about ASD's in WV.)
"PEIA also is assuming that some of these individuals will require very intensive 8 hour a day, 260 days a year care with a potential annual cost of $142,000.00 per child for conventional research based treatment;" Why would they make that assumption? Where did their numbers come from? Did they include within that assumption that those children over the age of 10 would not receive behavioral therapy because they are now too old where early intervention was not achieved?
"the PEIA projects the extension of this coverage to increase the first year annual costs to the Plan of $6.8 million." So they are saying that their estimated 182 members will cost them $6.8 million for the first year alone? Provide the proof and calculations used to generate this number, because this is absolutely ludicrous. (Attached to this email, I have provided my own fiscal projections that actually provides proof as to what this increase would actually be - and could be done solely by raising policyholders premiums between $0.30 to $0.74 per person per week and cost nothing to the state.)
"Future costs would trend upward with the rising costs of health care delivery, presently assumed to be approximately 8%." Not according to the Council for Affordable Health Insurance, where they have consistently shown that by adding autism mandates in other states that state premiums have only increased by less than 1% (See attached document in PDF for reference, pages 4 and 5).
"The Medical Director of PEIA also expressed real concern with the required coverage of experimental treatment methods and the non-FDA approved drug therapies that would be included in this type of experimental treatment. Without some acceptance by the medical community based on research in the treatment of these individuals there is a real possibility of harm to the individual and possible liability issues caused by the same." What is being asked for within this amended bill is FDA approved treatments and prescriptions, but this Fiscal Note makes the "assumption" that they reviewed the data provided to them that states this, which they obviously have not.
"A quick review by the Medical Director and staff of PEIA disclosed that many of the individuals affected by this disorder already have alternative coverage available through a variety of federally funded programs, including our State educational system. It is unclear whether this bill would adversely impact on the delivery of existing services or complicate the provider payment due to coordination of benefits between by these various groups?" Alternative coverage??? When did the educational system begin providing insurance coverage for children with ASD's? I do agree that there are other resources in WV that COULD be providing more assistance to our children with ASD's (school districts and Medicaid for example) but they consistently do not - However those are different issues for a different time. Also, it sounds to me like PEIA is doing what they can here to simply "pass the buck" and point fingers to others (though deservedly so) instead of doing what is really needed here and providing coverage to our children in WV with ASD.

3) $76 million of state funds to help those who, on their own will, decided to go into the New Teachers Retirements System is getting more movement and consideration than the grossly over-estimated PEIA increases for HB 4091. Remember this for future reference, these teachers are getting a "do-over" on their retirement, our children with ASD's only get ONE CHANCE at a life... There is no "do-over" for them.

4) What happened to the supposed "proposal" that PEIA provided to amend this bill and keep it moving because, in their words, it had "merit"? This was another piece of documentation that I heard existed and again was declined access to it by members of PEIA, but yet they said they thought they found a "solution" to keep this bill moving because it had good merit to move forward this session. Well, obviously not good enough...

5) None of the major supporters of this bill knew this was going to be final result of this bill during this session. Though myself, and others, were informed that a resolution was an option, we were all under the impression that work could still be done to move this bill this session. What happened? The action to go through this resolution process was a complete surprise without any respectful indication, notification, or discussions. And to be quite honest, I have been way too accessible, forthcoming with information and discussions, and too frequent of a visitor this session to be informed by a third party that this is what happened today.

6) Those Finance Committee Members that supported HB 4091 were completely robbed of the opportunity to discuss this with the committee, hear all sides, and allow this bill to receive its due diligence through the committee process.

7) Finally (though I could continue to go on and on), it is going to cost the state much more without an autism insurance mandate than with one in place - even a best case scenario mandate for our children and their families. Just with the approximate 2,500+ individuals with ASD's currently in WV, this group alone will cost the state approximately $136 million per year and in excess of approximately $8 billion over the average life span of 60 years. Then, we can begin including an additional $8 million per year (every year) based on the new case diagnoses we receive in WV. So, are we really going to allow the insurance companies to place this long-term and continually growing financial burden on our state because they simply do not want to cover autism under their policies for an additional 30 to 74 cents per person per week?

I do believe that if handled correctly that this resolution can be positive and would make an impact on changing things for the better for the individuals in WV affected with ASD - However, waiting another year before doing anything at all is immoral and irresponsible. Why is it not possible to pass a sound piece of autism insurance legislation AND perform a study resolution to fully identify insurance weaknesses as well as other issues that needed corrected for our ASD children throughout the state? The fact is that it could, and still can, happen!

I am urging you all to do whatever it takes to make something happen now! It doesn't have to be a "perfect world" scenario right off the bat for the parents, the insurance companies, or anyone else, but it can be a foundation to the beginning of change that our state so desperately needs to appropriately care for our children with ASD.

I will do anything and everything I can to help make this happen before the deadline passes on Wednesday, I hope that you will do the same.

Sincerely,
Jamie Bailey

We Officially Got Screwed!!!

Well, I found out today that Chairman White screwed the autism insurance bill today at his finance committee meeting today. I called periodically throughout the day to their "Agenda Hotline" to see which bills were being run today - and there was never any mention of HB 4091 on his agenda... Well, at the meeting, he introducted a resolution to "study" the autism insurance bill for the entire year, passed it unanimously, and as far as he was concerned - that is that... And here's the kicker to ALL of that - no one was informed that this was going to happen, not Delegate Rodighiero or myself - though he knew good and damn well how to get in touch with either of us... He backdoored this into a resolution, with no one knowing this was the plan... On top of that, I've heard from sources in the House AND Senate that this was what he was going to do - pass the buck and simply not deal with it... To put it mildly - I'M PISSED!!!!

There has been a LOT of weird things that have happened recently that have me either pissed or scratching my head... 1) On Monday while in Delegate White's office - he looked right at a group of five of us (one of them being Rev. Dennis Sparks of the WV Council of Churches) and said he WAS going to run our bill on his next agenda - obviously didn't happen, 2) The Fiscal Notes submitted in relation to our bill "mysteriously" disappeared when the latest one came in and was never posted, and I even asked to get a copy and was told that I likely wouldn't be able to see it (B.S.), 3) I spoke with Mike Adkins (Deputy Director of PEIA) and he claimed they delivered a report to Chairman White that had a proposal to amend the current bill for this session because the bill had merit - what that proposal actually was, who frickin' knows because I was never provided a copy of it (though I asked many times), but it looks like their proposal was to simply go to this resolution, 4) I made my own "Fiscal Projection" for PEIA based on their "numbers" they provided where they claimed that an estimated 188 children affected with ASD in their coverage would cost the state $6.8 million dollars, and I proved that their estimates were over inflated as I came up with numbers between $1.8 to $2.5 million (change in behavioral therapy caps from $50K to $75K) - PLUS in a separate writeup, I showed that this could all be changed to the 210K-220K individuals without costing the state a dime by increasing the existing policies by no more than $0.74 cents per month per person on a policy - that's right... 74 CENTS!!! , 5) they won't provide help now for our children with ASD's, BUT White will pass out of his committee a bill that proposes a $76 million assistance fund to help bailout those teachers who a currently in the New Retirement System, of which it was their choice to go into it, to get into the Old Retirement System... Though personal contributions will need to be made by each person, the $76 million is from state taxes!!! So adults who make bad decisions gets all of this help, but our children with ASD's - who aren't able to make any choices on their own - continue to get screwed!!! I'm not attempting to say that this bill doesn't have merit and is not a need - but if we can invest $76 million into this, we should without hesitation be able to move this autism insurance bill, 6) This was solely a decision that Delegate White made on his own and didn't involve the rest of the committee members at all... So the way I feel about this, is that Delegate White's supporters are more important than our kids, and us as parents are being treated like nothings and our kids are being treated like third class citizens all because Delegate White is more concerned about his own self-interests!!!

Delegate White had a chance to do SOMETHING this year, it may not have been the type of legislation that we all would have liked to see, but at least it would have been a start... But instead of doing the right things, listening to the TRUTH and the TRUE numbers, and caring about our children - he showed what a true coward he is and hid all of this behind closed doors so he could move this into a resolution and wash his hands clean of it this year... Well, as far as I'm concerned - this simply is NOT good enough!!!

I am BEGGING you all to bombard Delegate White's office with phone calls, emails, faxes, and even personal visits for the next two weeks (rest of the current session) and let him know how upset we all are in this cowardace action he took and the lack of respect he showed to our children. And even ask him WHY our children is not a priority to him (because obviously they are not), maybe this will be a good reminder to him of what his priorities SHOULD be - because we all know this would be a different story if he either has a child or grandchild affected with ASD... He would have told every insurance lobbyist, insurance company and all other opposers of this bill that it has merit, it is long overdue, and that it is SOLELY ABOUT THE CHILDREN!!!

Finally, ensure to Delegate White, and ALL members of the WV Legislature, that WE ARE EVERYWHERE AND WE ARE NOT GOING AWAY!!!

Nothing new to report

I have called Delegate White's office and the Finance Committee's attorney all day today for an update and I continually have been told that there is nothing new to report. I continually get the same story, which is that he has been too busy to even look at the proposal that PEIA has given him in relation to modifying the bill and running it. I'm pretty frustrated at this point, but worse comes to worse, I will be down there Sunday (next time they are at the capitol) to get the information that I need for our bill.

I also received some good information, which is we have until Wednesday to get our bill out of the Finance committee. Basically, the House would have to wave the three reading rule and go to a vote - which after talking to a few people at the capitol about this, it can be done very easily. So we have some more time - more than what I thought at least... If I get some news, I will get it out ASAP!

We're still alive!

I don't have a lot of time to provide a full update, but HB 4091 is still alive... The short version of this is that I spoke with a representataive from PEIA on the drive back and he informed me that a proposal was hand delivered to Delegate White late this afternoon which contains portions of the bill that they believe they can do. I don't know what this is at this time, but after speaking with this individual, it seems that we can work out an agreement on the bill. I'm not sure what we will end up with here, but it will be a START!!! I will post updates as often as possible to keep you all informed as to what is going on here...

Major Twist Occurred Today

I'm going to attempt to get through this as quickly as I can because I'm working the phones right now to resolve the new issue that has surfaced... Here's what I have learned, Delegate White told one of my sources later today that he has a major concern about HB 4091 because of the "Fiscal Note" that came from PEIA today. The Fiscal Notes are requested and returned by the requested organization stating what the financial impact to the state will be by implementing a piece of legislation to the committee. This fiscal note stated a 1st year at $6.9 million and $22 million total over three years... The problem is that they are WRONG!!! And basically it's a scare tactic to get the committee to not run the bill - it's happened in other states.

I have already forwarded documentation to the Finance Committee Attorney and the Finance Chairman that shows, from a government funded organization, autism mandates cost less than 1% of current state premiums and some states (like Indiana) have stayed at this number for the better part of 6 years. So after sending this to these two individuals, I informed them that they should request PEIA to show them how they came up with this number - but basically it's all smoke and mirrors that they will get caught up in...

As of 7 PM, I have not received confirmation that HB 4091 will be on tomorrow's agenda, and the attorney actually stated (around 3:30 PM) that she is about 99.5% positive it will not go to tomorrow's agenda. So, right now I would not expect 4091 to go to the Finance Committee's agenda, but I will continue to actively pursue this issue and get this resolved as soon as I can...

When I receive more information, I will post it here...

Update as of 02/19/08

Sorry I haven't been in touch for a while, but I have been extremely busy with the most recent trips to Charleston over the past week. Here is the latest as I left today... On Monday, I met up with Janet Lintala (DAN! doctor in Beckley), Betsy Atwater, Ginger McAllister, Rev. Dennis Sparks of the WV Council of Churches, and a couple other parents (most at different times) at the capitol to meet with multiple Delegates, Senators and the Legislative Liaison of the Governor. Everything went very well on Monday, especially our final meeting of the day with Finance Chairman Delegate White. There was some idle chit chatting going on in the beginning, but I pretty much was straight out with Delegate White and asked if he planned on running the insurance bill. His response was that he was planning on running the bill, but stated that the language had to be fixed in the bill - of which we all agreed that it did. So Delegate White introduced me to the Finance Committee Attorney and allowed us to exchange contact information so we could be in touch frequently and work out the final details of the (hopefully) last amendment to Cameron and Dominic's Law. Delegate White then stated that the bill would be ran ASAP once the amendments were ready. So at this point, I went back to my friend's apartment (who thankfully puts up with me and allows me to stay with him during my time at the capitol) and worked on the amendments for the final bill. When I completed them, I emailed them to her along with some other documentation and awaited her call in the morning.

Today (2/19), I attended the WV Team Autism Meeting that occurred in Charleston and received a couple of calls from the Finance Committee attorney while I was there and worked out a few things with our bill. I then took a call from Rev. Dennis Sparks, and he informed me that he spoke directly with Gov. Joe Manchin yesterday after I left the capitol. He then informed me that they briefly discussed Cameron and Dominic's Law with him, and Rev. Sparks was told by Gov. Manchin that he had been recently informed about the bill, was in full support of it, and would inform the House and Senate Leaders of his support - and basically to pass the bill this session as long as the Finance Chairman approved the final language of the bill - which is obviously HUGE!!! By the end of the day, the Finance Committee attorney and I had a couple discussions about the bill, and basically it appeared that everything was fine and now it is just cleaning up the verbiage a bit... So basically it looks more and more as if we will have this autism insurance bill passed this session!!! I'm not getting too optimistic at this point, and I'm still going to work the bill the same as before, but if this all works out the way it has been discussed - we should have this bill passed before the end of session!

So, right now it appears that our bill will be going to the Finance Committee's Agenda this Thursday - I still need to get the time and location of the meeting, so check back here on Wednesday for this information. For those of you that can make it, your presence and support of Cameron and Dominic's Law at the capitol would be greatly appreciated!!!

I'll be in touch soon...

The Current Language of HB 4091

For those of you that are interested, the following is the link to view the current and amended language of our insurance bill... Here it is:

http://www.legis.state.wv.us/Bill_Text_HTML/2008_SESSIONS/RS/amendments/HB4091%20HB&I%20AM%202-13.htm

Contact Info for Finance Committee Members

We now need to let the members of the Finance Committee know how important Cameron and Dominic’s Law is to us. Remember that when you contact these committee members, be nice and polite, and be short but personal with each member. Let them know that you want them to put HB 4091 on the Finance Agenda ASAP, to support HB 4091, and that our children NEED them to support this bill as well. Also, if one of your elected officials is in this committee, don't forget to politely remind them of that fact either...

Here is the contact information for the Finance Committee members, so start contacting them TODAY:

Harry Keith White (Chairman)
Mingo
340-3230
hkwhite@mail.wvnet.edu

Brent Boggs (Vice-Chairman)
Braxton
340-3280
Boggs34@aol.com

William Anderson
Wood
340-3168
eanders1@mail.wvnet.edu

Mitch Carmichael
Jackson
340-3115
mcarmich@mail.wvnet.edu

Larry Barker
Boone
340-3125
barker100@verizon.net

Thomas Campbell
Greenbrier
340-3129
wvdelc@mail.wvnet.edu

Kevin Craig
Cabell
340-3350
kcraig1@mail.wvnet.edu

John Doyle
Jefferson
340-3184
jhndoyle@mail.wvnet.edu

Richard Iaquinta
Harrison
340-3161
iaquinta@mail.wvnet.edu

Orphy Klempa
Ohio
340-3378
oklempa@mail.wvnet.edu

K. Steven Kominar
Mingo
340-3117
kominar@verizon.net

Tim Manchin
Marion
340-3166
tmanchin@mail.wvnet.edu

Charlene Marshall
Monongalia
340-3186
chmarsh@mail.wvnet.edu

Don Perdue
Wayne
340-3269
dperdue@mail.wvnet.edu

Mary Poling
Barbour
340-3265
marypoli@mail.wvnet.edu

Doug Reynolds
Cabell
340-3199
delegatedoug@yahoo.com

Sharon Spencer
Kanawha
340-3218
delspencer@aol.com

Douglas Stalnaker
Lewis
340-3396
dstalna1@mail.wvnet.edu

Kenneth Tucker
Marshall
340-3123
ktucker1@mail.wvnet.edu

Jack Yost
Brooke
340-3392
jyost@mail.wvnet.edu

Bob Ashley
Roane
340-3185
bashley@mail.wvnet.edu

Craig Blair
Berkeley
340-3122
craig@delegatecraigblair.com

Larry Border
Wood
340-3136
bordel@mail.wvnet.edu

Allen Evans
Grant
340-3399
aevans@mail.wvnet.edu

Ron Walters
Kanawha
340-3194
ronwalte@mail.wvnet.edu

Great Day Today!!!

Well, we passed HB 4091 out of the B&I committee today with a unanimous vote!!! It was extremely uplifting to see the support given to this bill by our representatives during this meeting. Especially from Delegate Clif Moore, he asked for a moment to speak and stated (not-quoting mind you) that it was long overdue that our Legislature did something to help the Autism Community and this should be passed by the House very soon!

The bill was amended in this committee, discussed, questions were asked, some answers were given, and then it went to vote - and passed with no problems!!!

I would highly recommend that we all thank Delegate Kominar (either via phone, face to face, or email) for his efforts in putting our bill on his agenda, getting it amended within his committee, and showing his full support of our bill.

Also, HB 4091 was officially re-named to "Cameron and Dominic's Law", which was also approved unanimously in this meeting!

So, now our next step is to the Finance committee, and we all need to actively contact Delegate White, Finance Chairman, and urge him to put HB 4091 on his Finance agenda as soon as possible. A few of us have already attempted to speak with him directly, of which he was tied up in meetings - so the best thing we can do at this point is call, send regular mail, and emails to him requesting him to get our bill on his agenda ASAP. When I have the next opportunity, I will post all of the Finance committee members contact information on this blog for everyone.

Finally, I would like to say thank you to all of those that were able to make it to the capitol today to support this bill. There are two in particular I would like to thank... 1) The members of the Augusta Levy Learning Center in Wheeling and the parents of those children who attend the A.L.L.C. The A.L.L.C. closed the school today so everyone that wanted to or could attend today's committee meeting could do so. So many thanks to everyone with the A.L.L.C.!!! The second person I would like to thank is a very close and dear friend of mine who is a parent of a son with autism. Due to what she has recently had to go through, I will not state her name on this site - but I had to give her an extra thanks. This wonderful woman attended today's meeting, brought both of her children, and this is where she just recently completed chemotherapy and radiation for cancer that was identified several months ago. Though I know that she would have liked to take the day to continue to gain her strength back, spend time with her family, or day-to-day activities that she has been unable to do due to her treatments. The easy thing for her to do was to simply not attend - but she came with both of her children and did everything she could to support this bill!!! THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!

Now off to the Finance comittee...

Big Update!!!

I don't have a lot of time to get into all of the details of what happened today, but I'll give you all the high level. Over the weekend, I was told that the feeling was that our bill was not going to the agenda this week - if at all... I started working with Ralph Rodighiero on the details of what was going on, and planned to speak with the Insurance Chairman Monday morning. During this conference between the three of us, there was an attempt to not move the bill this week, and likely not at all this year. The points were made why, and Ralph and I made the counterpoints of why it SHOULD be there. After a lengthy discussion, Delegate Kominar asked for specific points and the bill to be revised. So, I then created the new language and emailed it to him and Ralph, and specifically asked that this bill be amended in this week's committee meeting (on the agenda) and not delayed any longer. It wasn't too long after that, Kominar informed Ralph personally that the bill would be ran in his committee this week. I also asked Delegate Kominar that if any of the new language was a concern to him - he needed to contact me ASAP so it could be addressed by Tuesday, or before the committee meeting on Wednesday at 10 AM.

So, for now at least, everything is still good and ready for this week. If anything new comes up, I'll let you all know... Below is the language of the amendment that will be introduced at the meeting and how the bill will look - if no other changes occur to the bill.


§33-15-22. Autism insurance act.
(1) Every policy which provides coverage for hospital, surgical, or medical care coverage in the state of West Virginia shall include full coverage for the prevention, early detection, diagnosis and treatment of autism spectrum disorder, which will include all prevention, early detection, diagnosis and/or treatments and therapies that are considered research based, specifically for autism spectrum disorder, and any FDA approved treatments.
(2) Every policy will also provide full in-state or in-network coverage for the prevention, early detection, diagnosis and treatment of autism spectrum disorder even if the individual is unable to receive a service, or treatment, within the State of West Virginia and must receive this service or treatment from an out-of-state provider.
(3) For purposes of this section, "autism spectrum disorder" means a neurobiological condition that includes Autism, Asperger syndrome, Retts syndrome, or Pervasive Development Disorder.
(4) Every policy will implement the following guidelines of this bill:
(a) The benefits and coverage provided pursuant to this section shall be provided to any person diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder under twenty-six (26) years of age.
(b) Coverage for behavioral therapy will not exceed a seventy-five thousand dollar maximum benefit per child per year.
(c) Only specialized behavioral therapies will be covered for autism spectrum disorder.
(d) There will be no visitation limits for medical doctor and specialist visits.
(e) There will be no visitation limits for Occupational Therapy, Physical Therapy, Speech Therapy, and Vision Therapy.
(f) Coveage will be provided for up to four (4) visits, or consultations, with a certified Nutritionist per year.
(g) Any FDA approved treatment will be covered for autism spectrum disorder when recommended, or prescribed, by a medical doctor or specialist.
(h) All medical, or medicines, and bio-medical, or vitamins and supplements, treatments will be covered in full for autism spectrum disorder when recommended, or prescribed, by a medical doctor, specialist, or nutritionist.
(i) Coverage for early detection and diagnosis will be provided in full, regardless if a person does or does not receive a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder.
(j) Coverage for all medical testing performed on a person diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder will be provided in full when recommended, or prescribed, by a medical doctor or specialist.
(k) Coverage will be provided for a person diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder for specialized diets at fifty percent (50%) when recommended, or prescribed, by a medical doctor, specialist, or nutritionist.
(l) Coverage for music and/or listening therapy will be provided in full when recommended, or prescribed, by a medical doctor or specialist and when supervised by professionals that possess a certification in that specific music or listening therapy.
(5) This act shall become effective July 1, 2008.

NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to provide insurance for the detection and treatment of autism spectrum disorders.

Gameplan for Wednesday

Ok, here's the gameplan for Wednesday...

For those of you that can make it before Wednesday, make appointments with your elected officials and other Delegates - type up letters telling them your story about your child (or children), your problems with insurance coverage, and give them a picture of your child. Though I haven't heard anything official, based on previous conversations we should have some TV, newspaper, and radio coverage leading into the Wednesday committee meeting. When I get the details, I will let you know which newspapers, TV stations and radio stations...

On Wednesday, we will meet on the 2nd Floor of the Rotunda in the capital at 9 AM. I also expect some media coverage to be there that day... I would recommend making some signs with your child's picture on it that have some friendly message like "Please support HB 4091" - as an example. If you make a sign, please do not be oppositional or aggressive - that is not the message we are attempting to send and we have way too much momentum to do that. Before the meeting starts, we will all go to the meeting room of the B&I committee and be in the hallway when the B&I committee members go into their meeting room showing our support of the bill. Some of us will go into the committee meeting, and for those of you that don't - I suggest meeting with your elected officials (if you haven't done so at this point) and ask them to support the bill when it hits either the Finance committee and/or the House floor. Once the committee meeting is done (likely a little before 11 AM), we will meet again at the Rotunda and give everyone the update of what occurred in the meeting.

At this point in time (barring anything unforeseen), we fully expect for this bill to successfully make it out of this committee and it will then go to the Finance Committee. So, with that said, I recommend a letter for Finance Chairman, Delegate White (D - Mingo), with the same message as before (your story, problems with coverage, and include a picture) and also urge him to have this go to his committee immediately, which should be on Monday, February 18th (Finance committee has been meeting on Monday's) and would be this committee's first meeting after B&I would (in theory) moves HB 4091 along.

With a big turnout on this Wednesday and the media coverage that we are expecting leading into this Wednesday, this should be enough pressure on the House AND the Senate to expedite their efforts and get HB 4091 moving through this process for full Legislative passage.

If anyone has any questions about Wednesday, please contact me as soon as possible... Thanks, and I hope to see you all at the capitol on Wednesday - but don't forget to check back in here for informational updates as I find them out...

This is awesome!!!

I received an email from Kathy Fuller, Director of the Augusta Levy Learning Center in Wheeling, in relation to their support of HB 4091. For those of you who have not heard of the A.L.L.C., this is an ABA school for children with ASD's and they work directly with the Lovass organization. She informed me that they will be closing the A.L.L.C. on Wednesday the 13th so the entire staff, and the majority of the parents, can come to the capitol and support the bill!!!

I believe that this is absolutely awesome!!! I have to tip my hat to everyone at the A.L.L.C. for doing everything that they can to support this bill and being present at the capitol to have their voices heard this Wednesday... I hope we receive this kind of support from everyone around the state, if so - I believe that this bill will fly through the House and Senate after Wednesday's B&I committee meeting...

Thanks again to everyone at the A.L.L.C. for all that they are doing to support HB 4091!!!

Suggested actions for next week

As a suggestion, for those of you that can do this, I believe that the following would be a good action for many of us to do... We should make appointments with our legislators the day before the committee hearing of HB 4091.

At those appointments, bring a picture of your child to give to your legislator, and tell them about how ASD has affected our lives - and especially tell them about an instance where your child was denied insurance coverage. This would be even more beneficial if these legislators were on the B&I and Finance committees...

Committee Date Has Been Set!!!

I received an email from Delegate Kominar this morning informing me that the committee had many Rules Bills that had to get out of their committee this week, so HB 4091 will be placed onto the B&I committee's agenda for Wednesday the 13th!!!

So, now we have a date set, time to contact all of the B&I members and request them to support HB 4091, and time to plan for us all to be at the capitol. Also, this gives us a lot of time now to give our issue a lot of press and media coverage over the next week, and really put some pressure on everyone in the Legislature (House and Senate) to get this bill passed ASAP!!!

Now, we need everyone to try their best to be at the capitol on Wednesday, February 13th (likely around 9 AM) to show our support and relay our need for HB 4091. Tell your sisters, brothers, parents, other family members, friends, your child's teachers, therapists, your neighbors, work associates and anyone else that I may have missed here to help support this bill by contacting the committee members to support the bill and coming to the capitol next Wednesday! Email this post to them all or give them the link to this blog site... Do everything you can to help us get all the support we can for HB 4091 next week, because the statement that we could make on this day has the ability to ripple all the way through the House and the Senate - and essentially get HB 4091 passed very quickly and without much opposition!!!

If you have questions or need anything in relation to this - please contact me at jamie_bailey@netzero.com... Thanks!!!

Have yet to hear anything

Well, I was supposed to hear something today (Monday) on the status of the bill and whether it was to be on this Wednesday's agenda or next Wednesday's agenda - but I have yet to hear anything at this point... As soon as I receive confirmation, I will let you all know...

What needs to be done now

Based on an exchange of emails and discussions with several people, we need to let the members of the Banking and Insurance Committee know how important this Autism Insurance Bill is to us. So what I have done is I created the list of all of the members of the committee and their contact information (phone numbers and email addresses) in order to have an already compiled list we all can access and use. Remember that when you contact these committee members, be nice and polite, and be short but personal with each member. Let them know that you want them to support HB 4091, and that our children NEED them to support this bill as well. Also, if one of your elected officials is in this committee, don't forget to politely remind them of that fact either...

Here is the contact information for the B&I committee members (the Finance committee and Senate committee members will be posted here as well - just at a later time), so start contacting them TODAY:


Clif Moore (Banking Chairman)
McDowell
340-3189
cmoore@mail.wvnet.edu

David Perry (Banking Vice-Chairman)
Fayette
340-3155
dperry7@mail.wvnet.edu

K. Steven Kominar (Insurance Chairman)
Mingo
340-3117
kominar@verizon.net

Larry Barker (Insurance Vice-Chairman)
Boone
340-3125
barker100@verizon.net

Mitch Carmichael
Jackson
340-3115
mcarmich@mail.wvnet.edu

Patti Schoen
Putnam
340-3141
pschoen@mail.wvnet.edu

Bob Ashley
Roane
340-3185
bashley@mail.wvnet.edu

Ron Walters
Kanawha
340-3194
ronwalte@mail.wvnet.edu

Robert Beach
Monongalia
340-3153
rbeach@mail.wvnet.edu

Ted Ellis
Logan
340-3139
tedellis@mail.wvnet.edu

Nancy Guthrie
Kanawha
340-3156
nguthrie@mail.wvnet.edu

William Hartman
Randolph
340-3178
whartman@mail.wvnet.edu

Dave Higgins
Kanawha
340-3152
dhiggins@mail.wvnet.edu

Tal Hutchins
Ohio
340-3270
thutch@mail.wvnet.edu

Richard Iaquinta
Harrison
340-3161
iaquinta@mail.wvnet.edu

Melvin Kessler
Raleigh
340-3163
mkessler@mail.wvnet.edu

Virginia Mahan
Summers
340-3102
vmahan@mail.wvnet.edu

Harold Michael
Hardy
340-3340
hmich1@mail.wvnet.edu

Tim Miley
Harrison
340-3145
timmiley@mail.wvnet.edu

Doug Reynolds
Cabell
340-3199
delegatedoug@yahoo.com

Joe Talbott
Webster
340-3116
jtalbott@mail.wvnet.edu

Larry Williams
Preston
340-3160
lwillia1@mail.wvnet.edu

Troy Andes
Putnam
340-3121
tandes@mail.wvnet.edu

Tom Azinger
Wood
340-3202
tazinger@mail.wvnet.edu

Larry Border
Wood
340-3136
bordel@mail.wvnet.edu

Where things stand as of now (2/1/08)

Here's where we are as of now... I was originally going to be told by Delegate Kominar if Cameron's Law was going to be on the B&I Agenda for this coming Wednesday (2/6) or the following Wednesday (2/13). However, as of close of business today, Delegate Kominar still did not know. As Insurance Chairman, he must execute the appropriate due diligence for each bill before putting a bill in an agenda, and at this point this has not been completed. His words to me were that he was putting the bill through, he just didn't know if it would be this Wednesday or the week after - and that I would have an answer on Monday. He has even briefed his intentions to the Speaker of the House, Delegate Thompson, and received approval to move it forward. So, as of now, no one knows if this will be on the B&I agenda this Wednesday or not...

During this time frame, I was again contacted by Carol Spann and she informed me that her best friend, who just happens to have a background in media relations, wants to get involved and help us promote Cameron's Law with a media blitz (radio, newspapers, and TV stations) leading up to and on the day of the B&I committee meeting when Cameron's Law will be discussed!!! Also wanting to do everything possible to help this bill, one of the Delegates (not sure if this person wants mentioned, so out of respect of the Delegate I will not mention the name) informed Carol and I what needed to be done to make sure this passes this session.

The biggest suggestion was to get the list of all Banking and Insurance Committee members (phone numbers and email addresses) and make this available for everyone. Then to develop a short, but personal/emotional message we can all leave on their voice mail or send to them via email to get their attention and gain their support. However, this is only effective if it is done in mass... One or two people will not make an impact, and it may actually make them think that since only a few people are actually contacting them about this bill, it is likely not that important to the state... We need to let our elected officials know, now more than ever, what this means to us and that our children need, and DESERVE, full coverage for autism spectrum disorders. So now is the time to get involved, to let your voice be heard, and to right the wrongs done to our children for far too long...

On top of this, we are also planning a rally at the capitol the day Cameron's Law goes before the committee. With all of the media coverage that we will be getting, it is imperative that we get a large turnout for this. I know we have no idea if this bill is coming out this Wednesday or next, but I believe that we should all start planning as if it will be discussed this Wednesday. I also know many of you don't live a hop, skip, and a jump away from the capitol, and that it is not that easy to simply show up - But again I will say that this is the opportunity that many of us have been waiting for, so no matter what day this falls on (this Wed. or next) please do everything that you can to be there.

Tell everyone you know and whoever you can to come to the capitol on this day to show the entire Legislature what this truly means to us all... I am hoping to see parents, their children, brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, cousins, neighbors, therapists, teachers, principals, doctors, psychologists, many members of Birth to Three, members of the Developmental Disability council, friends, work associates and everyone else whose lives have been touched by a child with Autism come to this rally and then go through the House and the Senate (because after it passes the House Floor, it goes right over to the Senate for the same process and we will need their support too) urging everyone to get this bill passed as soon as possible.

It has been very easy for us all to complain about the problems we have all faced when it comes to lack of insurance coverage... Well, now is the time to stop the complaining and to take some action!!!

Contacted by a recently met parent, and friend

A little background here... Now anyone that knows me, or has heard of me at this point, knows how passionite I am about helping our children with ASD's and their parents. I not only do everything I can for my son to help him heal and continue to move toward recovery, but I do all I can for other parents as well. Before starting this blogsite today, I have put myself out there as much as I can to reach all the parents, professionals, families, and those lives touched by ASD's that I can. I became involved with A-CHAMP for the legislative issues, Generation Rescue to be a "Rescue Angel" to anyone looking for help, a member of the National Autism Association, a parent contributor to the Autism Research Institute's parent phone conferences, and volunteered my assistance with the ASWV Conference held this past August in Charleston.

At the ASWV Conference, I suggested and the committee agreed to bring in Nutritionist, Michael Payne (who is one of the many people who sees and has significantly helped Cameron), for presentations about the DAN Protocol, Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy, and several other topics. Michael wanted to see kids and consult with families while he was in, so I sent the word out to everyone I could that if anyone was interested - he would be available for consults. To make a long story short, while helping schedule these consults for him, a parent by the name of Carol Spann contacted me and wanted to see Michael again (had taken her child to see him in the past). We set it up and we eventually met at the conference, and as usual it was very nice to meet and talk to another parent.

Fast forward to this week, and one of the emails that I received was from Carol. She wanted to know if I knew of a local family and expert on the subject to talk to the Legislature and get some great media coverage. After a few emails back and forth, we were both very glad to be back in contact with one another. We also quickly found out that there were several of us attempting to achieve the same goal in passing Cameron's Law, and it was time to bring us all together!

Unexpected, but pleasant, surprise

It wasn't even 30 minutes after I sent this email before I received my first response from Delegate Sumner saying she wants to look at this very closely and that she knows it is a growing problem. This was quickly followed by Wyoming County representative, and my former principal, Richard Browning, who pledged his full support to the bill. Over the next 48 hours, these response were followed then by Delegate Wysong (co-sponsor), Delegate Klempa (full support from him), Delegate Miller (wants to learn more, but is open minded and wants to do something that helps), Delegate Mary Poling (asking to get the bill into the B&I agenda and on the Finance committee, which is where it goes to next), Delegate Fragale (full support), Delegate Caputo (full support), Delegate Andes (wants to learn more), Delegate Lane (full support, thanks to Ginger!), Delegate Duke, Delegate Manchin (full support), Delegate Carol Miller (aunt of a girl with autism), Delegate Palumbo (full support), other co-sponsors of the bill restating their support, and many others!!! And through Ginger McAllister, I had heard that Delegate Carrie Webster had a family member recently diagnosed and she was providing her full support as well!!!

Also, as time progressed, I heard from other parents, professionals, family members, and others that have started to do the same - reach out to those that are making the decisions about our children's future, and it is making a difference.

It was at this point, I really felt like we had a great chance to get Cameron's Law passed this session... Because with all the responses that we all received from the Delegates, no one was opposed to this bill, actually the majority is supporting it, but only a few people that wanted to learn more about it..

Reaching out to all of the Delegates

In the late afternoon on Tuesday the 29th, I decided it was time to send a message to the entire House of Delegates, and here's what it said:


Honorable Delegates of the WV Legislature,

My name is Jamie Bailey, I have been a lifelong resident of West Virginia and I am a father of a six year old boy diagnosed with Autism. I am reaching out to you today in relation to HB 4091 – Relating to insurance coverage for Autism, and I am urging you all to get HB 4091 to the floor and pass this crucial piece of legislation as soon as possible.

As a father and very active member of the Autism Community in WV, I have personally experienced, seen and heard of the struggles that our WV families of children with autism spectrum disorder encounter when attempting to provide treatments and therapies for their child. What we have all experienced is that many of the effective treatments and therapies available for our children are denied and other treatments and therapies (such as Speech Therapy for a completely non-verbal child with Autism) that are approved will only be approved for one hour a week and never for an entire year. It is for this reason that children with autism spectrum disorder are either getting the bare minimum in treatments and therapies (and in many cases none at all) or the families of children with autism spectrum disorder are doing everything they can for their child and going bankrupt in the process, as well as divorcing. Recently the National Autism Association released to the public that the divorce rate of families of children with Autism is an overwhelming 80%, with the primary reason for divorce being financial hardship.

If gone untreated, autism spectrum disorder can be a lifelong disorder where each child that will eventually grow up into an adult will need 24 hour care. However, if detected early and treated appropriately, significant gains will be acquired and recovery for our children with autism spectrum disorder is possible – but this cannot happen without appropriate insurance coverage for autism spectrum disorder.

In closing, I again sincerely urge you all to move swiftly and support this very important piece of legislation for our residents with autism spectrum disorder, where every day that passes is a day of treatment that is missed that our children cannot get back.

Thank you for your time and consideration,

Sincerely,

Jamie Bailey


What was surprising was the responses that I received... (see next blog)

Ginger McAllister making waves

It seems that ever since HB 4091, I have heard Ginger McAllister has practically lived at the capitol. She's spoke with as many Delegates as her time has allowed, and has done a fabulous job of creating awareness about the insurance bill. She has also done a great job of getting others in the area involved by emailing, calling and showing up to the capitol. Ginger has been a very important huge in creating and keeping momentum going on this bill.

THANKS GINGER!!!

Creating a buzz about HB 4091

This news article started to create a buzz around the capitol and with all Charleston Daily Mail readers. Delegate Ralph Rodighiero did a great job with this article!!!


Charleston Daily Mail
January 25, 2008

Bill mandates autism coverage

http://www.dailymail.com/News/statenews/200801250214

Introduction of ASD Insurance Bill for WV

On 01/09/08 (the first day of the session), Senators Kessler and Bowman introduced SB 146.

Also on 01/09/08, last year's House Bill 3086 was re-introduced in this year's session as it was in last year's session - same sponsors.

Finally, on 01/18/08, HB 4091 was introduced, received the maximum amount of sponsors of 11 Delegates, and varies from SB 146 and HB 3086 where ADD and ADHD was removed from the verbiage of the bill. This bill is being championed from within the House of Delegates by Delegate Ralph Rodighiero (D - Logan).