The State Senate voted Tuesday to pass a package of bills requiring private insurers to cover treatment for autism. Senate Bill 414, 415, and 981, sponsored by Senators Mike Green (R-Mayville), Tupac Hunter (D-Detroit), and Senate Majority Leader Randy Richardville (R-Monroe), respectively, passed with significant majorities of 29-9, 29-9, and 28-10. The measures now move to the House.
The package, while requiring regulated insurance providers to cover effective treatments, also provides for the reimbursement of the cost of coverage by the State of Michigan through the Autism Coverage Fund. This is viewed as a compromise acceptable to the business community who had long opposed an insurance mandate.
Proponents of further action to extend the coverage requirement to all mental health issues, commonly known as mental health parity, came very close to a huge victory as well. An amendment offered by Senator Rebekah Warren (D-Ann Arbor), long a champion of the issue, failed 18-20. Six Republicans joined the chamber’s twelve Democrats in supporting the amendment.