Decoding Nick's Law
MetroFamily Magazine
July 2009
Pam Pollard
“The worst sin towards our fellow creatures is not to hate them, but to be indifferent to them; that’s the essence of inhumanity.” - George Bernard Shaw
Is autism in Oklahoma an issue of compromise or indifference? Those on the side of House Bill 2027—otherwise known as Nick’s Law—are passionate and clear on one point: without insurance coverage for autism spectrum disorders, it won’t matter how many new Board Certified Behavior Analysts are enacted in this state through Senate Bill 135. There will be very few families who can afford to pay them.
“There is some confusion on what Nick’s Law is. Since I wrote it, let me explain,” said Wayne Rohde, father of autistic son Nick Rohde, for whom the bill is named. “It is just legislation to require private insurance companies (not federal employees, the self-insured or Medicaid) to provide insurance coverage for autism. No taxpayer money will pay for services. The parents (of autistic children) pay for the insurance premiums. There could be taxpayer money in the bill to pay for the premium increases, if any, for state employees. The fiscally conservative thing to do is to allow private insurance coverage, so the taxpayers will not be forced to pick up the tab.”
The other side of the autism/insurance debate emphatically believes that House Bill 2027, Nick’s Law, may positively impact a small minority but negatively impact a vast majority of premium-paying individuals.
“Wayne [Rohde] and his family have been very effective advocates of getting autism coverage,” said Senator Clark Jolley (R-Edmond). “The debate over cost to everyone else’s insurance premiums and whether it would result in more people being uninsured is an important one and should not be overlooked.”
These concerns prompted the introduction of Senate Bill 135. The Senate Bill has two main goals: first, to increase the number of trained specialists to treat autism spectrum disorders; second to encourage the open insurance market to adjust coverage based on the demand of services.
Senate Bill 135 also includes provisions that establish a state license for National Board Certified Behavioral Analysts and increased training for the evaluation and diagnosis of autism spectrum disorders. The bill seeks to enhance Sooner Start, an early intervention and treatment program for children up to age 3 with disabilities and developmental delays. An extended measure of the law looks to replicate Early Foundations, an autism treatment and outreach model through trained providers currently funded through the State Department of Education.
Supporters of Nick’s Law feel that Senate Bill 135 is similar to their own proposed bill but with one major exception: the insurance mandate is removed. “My opinion is that Senate Bill 135 is a waste of taxpayer’s money,” said Rohde. “It provides money to study applied behaviors, yet we have nearly 25-plus years worth of research from the United States Department of Education, the United States Department of Defense, the United States Surgeon General and many more credible sources.” Rohde feels that the spending allocated by the bill is wasteful. “There is no direct help to children and their families,” Rohde said.
Senate Bill 135 was unanimously passed by the Senate on April 21, 2009, after the House Republican majority blocked the insurance coverage mandate for Nick’s Law. House Bill 2027 (Nick’s Law) was killed and banned from the floor for two years after the House Economic Development and Financial Services Committee made a do-not-pass recommendation on it.
Not all Oklahoma lawmakers believe, however, that Senate Bill 135 was the appropriate measure to take. “While the legislature has passed measures to increase providers for families with autism, the fundamental fact remains that many families cannot afford the services to treat their loved ones without insurance coverage,” said Senator Kenneth Corn (D-Howe).
When all is said and done, the argument that squelched Nick’s Law while advancing Senate Bill 135 is a disagreement between the costs of funding insurance for families dealing with autism. “This bill will… give families dealing with the disorder more options for treatment,” said Senator Ron Justice (R-Chickasha). “Every step we can take towards early detection and treatment of autism spectrum disorders will greatly benefit those with autism and their families. In the long run, early intervention and proper treatment will reduce the costs associated with autism, and will help Oklahoma’s youth with this disorder be able to reach their full God-given potential.”
The debate over Nick’s Law has brought questions about autism and insurance to the forefront in Oklahoma. The full impact has yet to be seen, but we can all be assured that the debate will continue, both in Oklahoma and on the national level.
Jeana Pollard is a freelance writer, mother of two daughters (Paley and Paven), and wife of Matt Pollard.
Link to MetroFamily
Showing posts with label Sen Kenneth Corn. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sen Kenneth Corn. Show all posts
Sunday, July 5, 2009
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Sen Wilson Concerned Senate Republicans Plan to Gut SB 1055 to Protect Insurance Industry…Again
Oklahoma State Senate
For Immediate Release: May 20, 2009
Wilson Concerned Senate Republicans Plan to Gut SB 1055 to Protect Insurance Industry…Again
A bill waiting to be heard on the Senate floor has been stripped down by Senate Republicans to protect the insurance industry, a pattern of behavior by the majority party that began quickly after they came into power for the first time in state history.
Senator Jim Wilson, one of the Senate’s watchdogs for insurance industry friendly bills, says the Senate Republicans appear to be ready to abandon consumer friendly health care reforms in the current version of SB1055, set to be heard before the legislature adjourns Sine Die on Friday. Those consumer friendly provisions included:
- Making it unlawful to pay bonuses to insurance executives or cancellation of policies or denial of claims; and
- Requiring insurance plans to spend 75% of the premiums they collect on actual medical care.
“Medicare spends 98 cents of every Medicare dollar on actual care," Senator Jim Wilson stated. “But in Oklahoma, big insurance only has to pay 60 cents of every dollar. I guess Senate Republicans feel that big insurance just isn't making enough profit on the backs of some of the most vulnerable Oklahomans.”
Wilson concluded by saying, “My question is quite simple: Is there anything more we can do to help out friends in the insurance industry? Perhaps they would like a wafer thin mint."
For more information contact:
Sen. Wilson's Office - 405-521-5574
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Medical reformers vow fight for change in Oklahoma insurance industry
BY JULIE BISBEE
Published: April 14, 2009
http://tinyurl.com/dg52n2
A group pushing for health care reform criticized current legislation it says benefits insurers and vowed to keep fighting for change in Oklahoma’s insurance industry.
"This is essentially an unregulated industry in Oklahoma,” said Sen. Kenneth Corn, D-Poteau, who was among advocates for health care reform at a news conference Monday. "When people make payments for care, they should be able to get it.”
Corn said Senate rules requiring a financial statement for bills dealing with the insurance industry have hindered efforts to seek meaningful reform. Some ranking Republicans have publicly said they oppose mandates on insurers because they could make it harder for companies to keep insuring people. GOP leaders say they want the companies to be able to insure more people, not fewer.
Next week, Oklahomans for Healthcare Reform plans to rally at the state Capitol. Members of the group include Wayne Rohde, who has pushed for insurance coverage for autism. Rhode’s son is autistic. The group also includes Nancy Thomason, founder of the Oklahoma Brain Tumor Foundation, who has pushed for insurance coverage for clinical trials. Thomason’s son died of brain cancer.
"Many of our bills haven’t seen the light of day,” said Jeff Raymond, OK Watchdog executive director and a member Oklahomans for Healthcare Reform. "We want to keep attention on it. We’re not going away, and we want people to share their stories.”
Published: April 14, 2009
http://tinyurl.com/dg52n2
A group pushing for health care reform criticized current legislation it says benefits insurers and vowed to keep fighting for change in Oklahoma’s insurance industry.
"This is essentially an unregulated industry in Oklahoma,” said Sen. Kenneth Corn, D-Poteau, who was among advocates for health care reform at a news conference Monday. "When people make payments for care, they should be able to get it.”
Corn said Senate rules requiring a financial statement for bills dealing with the insurance industry have hindered efforts to seek meaningful reform. Some ranking Republicans have publicly said they oppose mandates on insurers because they could make it harder for companies to keep insuring people. GOP leaders say they want the companies to be able to insure more people, not fewer.
Next week, Oklahomans for Healthcare Reform plans to rally at the state Capitol. Members of the group include Wayne Rohde, who has pushed for insurance coverage for autism. Rhode’s son is autistic. The group also includes Nancy Thomason, founder of the Oklahoma Brain Tumor Foundation, who has pushed for insurance coverage for clinical trials. Thomason’s son died of brain cancer.
"Many of our bills haven’t seen the light of day,” said Jeff Raymond, OK Watchdog executive director and a member Oklahomans for Healthcare Reform. "We want to keep attention on it. We’re not going away, and we want people to share their stories.”
Monday, April 13, 2009
Medical Reformers unite to get changes in health care
The Journal Record
Janice Francis-Smith
OK Capitol
April 14, 2009
OKLAHOMA CITY – None of the three people who spoke at Monday’s press conference were strangers to the lectern in the press room of the state Capitol. Each has paced the halls of the Capitol building for months, advocating for their particular issue. All have seen their favored legislation shot down by legislators who champion the financial health of one industry: insurance.
On Monday, the three announced they had banded together to form a new grass-roots advocacy group, Oklahomans for Health Care Reform. But a business advocate said such groups often develop when it appears likely legislation to alter Oklahoma’s tort laws will pass.
“We need to take back the insurance industry and make it patient-centric, not just profit-centric,” said Wayne Rohde. As a founder of the Oklahoma Autism Coalition, Rohde has worked for more than a year to force insurance companies to cover autism treatments. The legislation has come to be known as Nick’s Law, named for Rohde’s son.
The issue was derailed last year when the chairman of the House committee to which the legislation had been assigned refused to hear the bill. Former state Rep. Ron Peterson, R-Broken Arrow, former owner of an insurance agency, still frequents the Capitol in an advisory role. The issue was shot down again at the beginning of the 2009 session when members of the Republican majority voted against the measure. Under legislative rules, the issue can’t be brought up again for two years. Republican leadership opposes passage of any further insurance mandates, which they say drives up the cost of insurance premiums for everyone.
Nancy Thomason’s son, Cade, was not 2 years old when he died from brain cancer, she said. Thomason’s health insurer refused to pay for costs related to his participation in clinical trials that Thomason thinks could have helped her son. Last year, Thomason worked with state Sen. Andrew Rice, D-Oklahoma City, to pass a bill known as Stephanie’s Law, named for a young woman who has since died from brain cancer and who was likewise denied coverage for costs related to participation in clinical trials.
“People are dying, and they (insurance company executives) are only thinking about the bottom line,” said Thomason. A conflict of interest exists when lawmakers who work in the insurance industry serve as chairman and voting members of the committees where legislation involving the insurance industry is heard, she said.
Jeff Raymond of OKWatchdog has been to the Capitol arguing against the provisions of House Bill 1603, the comprehensive measure designed to revise Oklahoma’s laws regarding personal injury, or torts. The changes proposed would protect corporations and physicians from certain liability lawsuits, and would make it more difficult to file and pursue such a lawsuit.
“We’re not going away,” said Raymond. “We want to keep the people’s attention on it.”
Legislation successfully working its way through the process would make it very difficult to pass any additional mandates on insurance companies, requiring a two-year process and a list of actuarial studies. Other legislation would allow insurance companies to offer a bare-bones health care policy, stripped of all mandates and all but the most basic coverage for emergency care.
The three were joined at the press conference by state Rep. Eric Proctor, D-Tulsa, and state Sen. Kenneth Corn, D-Poteau. When insurance companies decide which treatments and procedures to cover and which to deny, the effect is that the company decides which treatments the patient – who rarely can afford to pay for treatment out of pocket – will receive.
“Those decisions should be made by a physician, not by some bean-counter in a basement somewhere,” said Corn. Corn has legislation pending that would make it unlawful for an insurance company to offer bonuses to employees who deny the most claims or who cancel the policies of those who have filed claims, as a California insurance company is accused of doing.
Other states have had success in setting standards for insurance companies, said Corn, and Oklahoma could follow their example. If federal legislation to allow insurance policies to be “portable” from state to state is successful, the question would become moot.
But until then, there is the possibility that insurance companies could choose to take their business to other states if Oklahoma’s laws become too restrictive for them.
“There is no law that says you have to stay here and write coverage,” said Mike Seney, senior vice president of operations for The State Chamber. “And the insurance industry isn’t like every other industry. We, as consumers, need their products, their services. I want my insurance company to do well, so that when I’m in a car wreck, or when a fire comes and wipes out my home, they’ll be able to cover it.”
A groundswell of resentment against insurance companies tends to accompany any efforts toward passing legislation to revise tort laws, which would reduce the amount of money trial lawyers may earn, Seney said.
“Those who oppose tort reform need to find somebody to wear the black hat, and they look to insurance companies,” he said. Regarding the claims of conflict of interest, Seney said lawmakers are elected because of the experiences they bring to the process, whether that experience be regarding the insurance industry or any other profession.
“It would be self-defeating for the state to elect these people and not listen to their experiences,” said Seney. On the other hand, legislators who make their living as trial lawyers have not recused themselves from voting on bills dealing with tort laws or with how much money they can make, he said.
Copyright © 2009 The Journal Record All Rights Reserved
101 N. Robinson Ave., Ste. 101, Oklahoma City, OK, 73102 |
P.O. Box 26370, Oklahoma City, OK, 73126-0370 | (405) 235-3100
415 S. Boston Ave., Ste. 101, Tulsa, OK 74103 | (918) 295-0098
Janice Francis-Smith
OK Capitol
April 14, 2009
OKLAHOMA CITY – None of the three people who spoke at Monday’s press conference were strangers to the lectern in the press room of the state Capitol. Each has paced the halls of the Capitol building for months, advocating for their particular issue. All have seen their favored legislation shot down by legislators who champion the financial health of one industry: insurance.
On Monday, the three announced they had banded together to form a new grass-roots advocacy group, Oklahomans for Health Care Reform. But a business advocate said such groups often develop when it appears likely legislation to alter Oklahoma’s tort laws will pass.
“We need to take back the insurance industry and make it patient-centric, not just profit-centric,” said Wayne Rohde. As a founder of the Oklahoma Autism Coalition, Rohde has worked for more than a year to force insurance companies to cover autism treatments. The legislation has come to be known as Nick’s Law, named for Rohde’s son.
The issue was derailed last year when the chairman of the House committee to which the legislation had been assigned refused to hear the bill. Former state Rep. Ron Peterson, R-Broken Arrow, former owner of an insurance agency, still frequents the Capitol in an advisory role. The issue was shot down again at the beginning of the 2009 session when members of the Republican majority voted against the measure. Under legislative rules, the issue can’t be brought up again for two years. Republican leadership opposes passage of any further insurance mandates, which they say drives up the cost of insurance premiums for everyone.
Nancy Thomason’s son, Cade, was not 2 years old when he died from brain cancer, she said. Thomason’s health insurer refused to pay for costs related to his participation in clinical trials that Thomason thinks could have helped her son. Last year, Thomason worked with state Sen. Andrew Rice, D-Oklahoma City, to pass a bill known as Stephanie’s Law, named for a young woman who has since died from brain cancer and who was likewise denied coverage for costs related to participation in clinical trials.
“People are dying, and they (insurance company executives) are only thinking about the bottom line,” said Thomason. A conflict of interest exists when lawmakers who work in the insurance industry serve as chairman and voting members of the committees where legislation involving the insurance industry is heard, she said.
Jeff Raymond of OKWatchdog has been to the Capitol arguing against the provisions of House Bill 1603, the comprehensive measure designed to revise Oklahoma’s laws regarding personal injury, or torts. The changes proposed would protect corporations and physicians from certain liability lawsuits, and would make it more difficult to file and pursue such a lawsuit.
“We’re not going away,” said Raymond. “We want to keep the people’s attention on it.”
Legislation successfully working its way through the process would make it very difficult to pass any additional mandates on insurance companies, requiring a two-year process and a list of actuarial studies. Other legislation would allow insurance companies to offer a bare-bones health care policy, stripped of all mandates and all but the most basic coverage for emergency care.
The three were joined at the press conference by state Rep. Eric Proctor, D-Tulsa, and state Sen. Kenneth Corn, D-Poteau. When insurance companies decide which treatments and procedures to cover and which to deny, the effect is that the company decides which treatments the patient – who rarely can afford to pay for treatment out of pocket – will receive.
“Those decisions should be made by a physician, not by some bean-counter in a basement somewhere,” said Corn. Corn has legislation pending that would make it unlawful for an insurance company to offer bonuses to employees who deny the most claims or who cancel the policies of those who have filed claims, as a California insurance company is accused of doing.
Other states have had success in setting standards for insurance companies, said Corn, and Oklahoma could follow their example. If federal legislation to allow insurance policies to be “portable” from state to state is successful, the question would become moot.
But until then, there is the possibility that insurance companies could choose to take their business to other states if Oklahoma’s laws become too restrictive for them.
“There is no law that says you have to stay here and write coverage,” said Mike Seney, senior vice president of operations for The State Chamber. “And the insurance industry isn’t like every other industry. We, as consumers, need their products, their services. I want my insurance company to do well, so that when I’m in a car wreck, or when a fire comes and wipes out my home, they’ll be able to cover it.”
A groundswell of resentment against insurance companies tends to accompany any efforts toward passing legislation to revise tort laws, which would reduce the amount of money trial lawyers may earn, Seney said.
“Those who oppose tort reform need to find somebody to wear the black hat, and they look to insurance companies,” he said. Regarding the claims of conflict of interest, Seney said lawmakers are elected because of the experiences they bring to the process, whether that experience be regarding the insurance industry or any other profession.
“It would be self-defeating for the state to elect these people and not listen to their experiences,” said Seney. On the other hand, legislators who make their living as trial lawyers have not recused themselves from voting on bills dealing with tort laws or with how much money they can make, he said.
Copyright © 2009 The Journal Record All Rights Reserved
101 N. Robinson Ave., Ste. 101, Oklahoma City, OK, 73102 |
P.O. Box 26370, Oklahoma City, OK, 73126-0370 | (405) 235-3100
415 S. Boston Ave., Ste. 101, Tulsa, OK 74103 | (918) 295-0098
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