With the powerful backing of Speaker of the House William J. Howell, R-Stafford, a bill to mandate coverage of autism disorders passed Thursday in a House of Delegates committee that had killed it in previous sessions.
The bill was limited to apply to children from ages 2 to 6, to cap annual costs at $35,000 and to apply to businesses that employ more than 50 people and are not self-insured. It also covers public employees.
Passage by the House Commerce and Labor Committee, on a 15-6 vote, virtually assures its passage in the General Assembly session, because the pro-business committee has blocked it in recent sessions. Another bill is pending in the Virginia Senate, but the Senate has always favored the mandated benefit.
"We have never gotten out of committee in the House of Delegates," said John W. Maloney of Henrico County, an advocate whose 15-year-old son has autism. "It's really exciting."
Howell said the bill strikes a balance between the needs of the business community and families with autistic children. Howell has been neutral on the issue in recent sessions, and his support was credited with ensuring its success.
He told a news conference that the proposal had been pared down to the point that it would not unduly hurt businesses. He also warned that proponents should not come back to the General Assembly in the next few sessions and try to broaden its scope.
In an almost two-hour hearing before the House Commerce and Labor Committee, opponents and proponents hurled facts and figures and emotional appeals at one another. The room was filled with parents of autistic children and lobbyists.
Opponents generally said the measure would create a mandate that businesses can't afford in these tough economic times. They also questioned the low cost estimates. Proponents stood by the estimates.
Proponents said the measure would cost businesses less than $1 per month per autistic child and would provide medical intervention for children at just the age — 2 to 6 — when intervention can do the most good.
"Hundreds of families will get the care they need to help make a real difference in the treatment of this disorder," said Del. Thomas A. "Tag" Greason, R-Loudoun, a small-business man who co-patroned autism bills with Del. Timothy D. Hugo, R-Fairfax. The committee combined the Greason and Hugo bills.
Greason said Del. M. Kirkland Cox, R-Colonial Heights, vice chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, had assured him that the budget committee has identified $1 million to cover the cost to the state of the new mandate.
Hugo said the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that 1 in 110 children and 1 in 70 boys are affected by autism.
Opponents included the Independent Insurance Agents of Virginia, Virginia State Chamber of Commerce, National Federation of Independent Business and the Virginia Association of Health Plans.
"The NFIB and Virginia Chamber will be using this vote in their voting records this year," warned Mike Thompson, a board member of the NFIB. All seats in the Virginia Senate and House of Delegates are up for election this fall.
Buddy Waskey, a Colonial Heights contractor, said his construction business was suffering and that he can't afford another mandate. He said he could not understand why the same General Assembly that fought against the federal health-care mandate would try to impose a state mandate.
Waskey also said he has an autistic son who is doing well without insurance coverage to pay for treatments.
"This isn't a question of whether these children and their families deserve these benefits," said Nicole Riley, acting state director of the NFIB. "It's a question of whether small employers can afford to offer them."
She noted that self-insured companies — big business — would be exempt from the mandate.
twhitley@timesdispatch.com
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