Illinois to Require Insurers to Cover Therapy for Kids

July 4, 2009

Insurance companies have historically covered only rehabilitative services to help people regain lost speech and movement skills. A new law requires insurers to cover children with disorders including Down syndrome, autism and cerebral palsy.

July 04, 2009 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Illinois to Require Insurers to Cover Therapy for Kids

Article provided by Steinberg, Goodman & Kalish, please visit us at http://www.sgklawyers.com

Beginning in 2010, Illinois will require health insurers to cover the therapy of children with a wide array of developmental disabilities. Insurance companies have historically covered only rehabilitative services to help people regain lost speech and movement skills.

The new law requires insurers to cover children under 19 years of age with disorders including Down syndrome, autism and cerebral palsy. The children will now be eligible for speech-language therapy, physical therapy and other therapeutic services to help them acquire developmental skills.

A young child with cerebral palsy typically needs help learning how to walk and talk. So-called "habilitative" therapies -- to distinguish them from rehabilitative therapies -- help the child acquire those skills.

Insurers will no longer be able to routinely deny therapies to children in similar circumstances on the grounds that the therapies are educational rather than medical.

When a person loses the ability to walk or talk to illness or injury, the medical services they receive to restore those capabilities are rehabilitative.

The new law prevents insurers from making those kinds of distinctions.

The federal government's National Institute of Health says research indicates early intervention can help children with cerebral palsy. "In general, the earlier treatment begins the better chance children have of overcoming developmental disabilities or learning new ways to accomplish the tasks that challenge them. Treatment may include physical and occupational therapy, speech therapy, drugs to control seizures, relax muscle spasms, and alleviate pain; surgery to correct anatomical abnormalities or release tight muscles; braces and other orthotic devices; wheelchairs and rolling walkers; and communication aids such as computers with attached voice synthesizers. "

The Autism Society of America agrees that the benefits of early intervention are enormous. "Early intervention is defined as services delivered to children from birth to age three, and research shows that it has a dramatic impact on reducing the symptoms of autism spectrum disorders."

Source: Steinberg, Goodman & Kalish
Website: http://www.sgklawyers.com



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