Great progress was made this session on the ATAM legislative agenda. A second successful session, especially in a non-budget year, solidifies ATAM’s role as a strong organization for autism advocacy and will help immensely going into the 2015 legislative session. This progress is due to the commitment and effort of the ATAM executive committee and board members, as well as Autism Minnesota parents and family. Although a short session, the tireless work of everyone on behalf of the autism community was inspiring and fruitful.
Early in the session, companion autism bills were introduced in the House (H.F. 2700) by Rep. Kim Norton and the Senate (S.F. 2837) by Sen. Greg Clausen. These eleven section bills were aspirational, intended to raise issues related to affordable, accessible health care for all children with autism and their families. Although it was never a possibility that all sections would pass in this short, non-budget session, it was intended that this bill would be a placeholder for next session, and that parts of it could be amended to other bills that were moving to make progress on some of the ATAM legislative agenda this year.
Two provisions of the ATAM bill gained traction during this session. The first was a provision that removed the requirement that a child have a diagnosis from two separate professionals to be eligible for the MA autism benefit. The 2014 law removes this requirement and requires only one diagnosis for eligibility.
The second provision was intended to make MA-TEFRA parental fees affordable so that all families could have a viable funding source through MA, including families currently using MCHA to access therapy for their child with autism. Ultimately, an across the board fee reduction was enacted that will benefit all families who utilize MA.
In addition, and as a direct result of all the provider and parent “red shirts” lobbying, the legislature also enacting laws providing a $2.5 million dollar grant for respite and $769 million dollars to develop an inter-agency website for autism resources. Another law requires DHS to provide additional training and information on how to access the MA autism benefit. . See attached 2014 Legislative Summary for specifics.
Thank you to all who made phone calls, sent emails, contacted your legislators or conference committee conferees, signed a petition, sent a letter to the Governor. It worked. They heard you and responded
We should be grateful for another successful legislative session for autism families, and after catching our breath, start planning for the next session. There is much to do before January, 2015.
5/20/14
