The one-two punch of autism

It’s a devastating diagnosis for a parent to hear. But it’s a one-two punch when your insurance company then refuses to cover the critical, medically necessary therapies your child desperately needs.

When our then-2-year-old son was diagnosed with a developmental disability 16 years ago, a team of medical experts prescribed a rigorous program of therapies. However, state-funded early intervention services were only able to offer us an hour and a half a week of speech therapy — for a child who wasn’t talking. We found private therapists to work with our child. But when we tried to file an insurance claim, the insurance company turned us down flat.

“We don’t cover educational treatment,” they told us. We appealed. They turned us down again. “We don’t cover developmental problems,” the claims manager said.

read more at The one-two punch of autism | LoHud.com | The Journal News.

Have you been able to get your child’s treatments covered after an initial rejection?

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