For families with autistic children or adults, one of the biggest problems is finding adequate health insurance coverage. In some states insurance companies will issue an automatic denial if the coverage if for an autistic person. Even if your family is part of a group health insurance policy, they could be covered for some health services, but they may not get the coverage they need. Autistic people require many special medical services in order for them to live as normal life as possible. The problem is that paying for those special medical needs can be very pricey without help from a health insurance company. Luckily, there are special programs that some autistic people may qualify for to start receiving the health insurance coverage they need.

An example of the special health services needed for those with autism is therapies for physical abilities and speech problems. Even if an autistic person is covered under a health insurance policy, they may not receive the coverage they need because of the insurance companies fine print in their policies. Most policies will offer coverage for therapies to their customers, but only in the case of a loss of function. So even though the autistic person needs the therapy, the insurance company can deny the claim because there was not actual loss of function. The person simply never had the function, so it would not be covered.

A lot of states are coming around to help people with autism, but only about half the US states have passed a mandate to get coverage for people with autism. There is still about half the states that have not mandated coverage, so insurance companies will continue to deny autistic people based on something uncontrollable. On a group health insurance policy, someone cannot be denied coverage based on autism, but as already explained, the policies fine print can find ways to not offer coverage for autistic people. Especially if you are someone not on a group policy, an individual policy is near impossible to find for an autistic person if you live in the states that have not mandated coverage.

Multiple problems form when autistic people do not receive the coverage they need. First off, they will not receive general health insurance coverage for things that have nothing to do with autism. Second, without a health insurance policy, they will not get the coverage they need to treat their special medical problems. However, work is being done to help people with autism, but it just isn’t fast enough. Medicare has taken steps to cover those with autism , but only a small percentage of people will fall in their categories. Eventually people with autism will get the coverage they need in all the states, but for now people are being denied coverage base on something they can’t control.