FAQ to use when speaking to elected officials about HB 3000

Please use this FAQ sheet when speaking with your elected officials.

FAQ for Oregon House Bill 3000 (HB 3000):
Autism Insurance Reform

Sponsored by: Representatives Buckley, Greenlick, C. Edwards, Kotek, Tomei,
and Senator Bates

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• How does autism impact the constituents of my district? Autism is a devastating disorder affecting an epidemic proportion of 1 in 89 children in your district. These children have an average life expectancy, generally outliving their parents, potentially their siblings and other family members.

• Is there a cure for autism? AUTISM IS TREATABLE. With appropriate application of recommended treatment, 30 years of research has shown us that children can overcome the severe symptoms of their disorder to lead very productive lives. In contrast, a 2006 Harvard Study indicates that without appropriate intervention a person with autism will have a societal impact of $3.2 Million each over the course of their lifetime.

• Do insurance companies cover autism now? At this time, most private insurance policies specifically exclude most treatments for autism, even when the service is otherwise covered by the health plan. HB 3000 ends this discriminatory practice against children with autism.

• What are the costs? The insurance industry’s own association – the Council for Affordable Health Insurance – estimates that mandated autism benefits costs by LESS than 1% increase premium

• What are the costs to the state? HB 3000 actually reduces big government --removing the need, and future dependence of families on state governmental agencies to care for their children. It reduces future Medicaid services, special education costs, and adult services, housing and care, saving our state millions of dollars.

• Doesn’t our Educational System cover these treatments? Opponents of HB 3000 have intimated that our special education system provides these services. Besides the fact that you are hard pressed to find a school in our state that does provide ABA, it is not the job of the Oregon Public School System to ameliorate or recover the medical condition of children with a neurobiological disorder. Their job is to provide them with an education in the least restrictive environment. We do not expect school systems to handle the medical care of children with AIDS, Cancer or Diabetes and we shouldn't expect school systems to handle the medical care of children with autism either.

• Does this create a significant economic burden to business owners? These societal costs will be there in one way or another. Opponents of HB 3000 may say this bill places unnecessary economic burdens on business owners. Would the business owners in your district prefer a small rate of impact at $1/month per policy in insurance costs or higher taxes in the future?

• Will HB3000 help or hurt Oregon’s economy? HB 3000 will definitely generate new job markets for workers in Oregon and stimulate the economy. The implementation of this legislation will provide new jobs for speech therapists, occupational therapists, applied behavior analysis therapists, physical therapists and more creating living wage jobs for Oregon residents and encouraging people to move to Oregon to participate in this human service delivery. Better wages and more residents equal a larger tax base from which to pull, benefiting everyone. Most of these children require one on one interaction requiring one adult worker full-time, per child covered, by this legislation.