In the face of opposition from the business community, a House subcommittee left mothers of autistic children weeping yesterday as it effectively killed a measure designed to bring limited healthinsurance relief to autistic children.
The eight-member subcommittee of the House Commerce and Labor committee voted to table the measure.
The measure, proposed by Sen. Janet D. Howell, D-Fairfax, who has an autistic great-nephew, was watered down to secure support but made less progress than earlier in the session, when it failed on a 4-4 vote. It earlier had passed the Senate.
To lessen its financial impact, the measure requiring health insurers to cover children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder was confined to children ages 2 to 6, subject to an annual maximum benefit of $35,000. Individual or small group policies would be excluded, as well as state employees until 2015. Howell said it would add less than 1 percent to the cost of premiums and apply to only about 14,000 children.
But a succession of business lobbyists, said businesses are suffering and that now is not the time to add to their costs.
Afterward, Richmond investment banker John Maloney, the father of an autistic child, said "the House of Delegates, under this speaker, answers only to big business, even when it hurts our youngest, most vulnerable citizens. I hope there's going to be a day when people come before political contributions."
Contact Tyler Whitley at (804) 649-6780 or twhitley@timesdispatch.com.
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