No S*&% News of the Day: Study Confirms Financial Impact of Autism on Family Income

Stop the presses!  Being Broke Linked to Autism!!!

Study Confirms Financial Impact of Autism - Special Needs - Families.com

A brand new study confirms the findings of a preliminary study that was released in 2011. The new study shows that the income of a family that includes a child who has autism is significantly less than the income of families who don't. This is due to a number of factors. 

In 2011, there was a preliminary study that used data that came from a survey done by the United States government's Medical Expenditures Panel. Researchers looked at information about families that included children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD), about families who had children with other types of chronic health conditions, (such as asthma, ADHD, or cerebral palsy), and about families that had healthy children.  

More @ http://special-needs.families.com/blog/study-confirms-financial-impact-of-autism#

Blue Cross change concerns patient advocates for autistic children - TwinCities.com

Blue Cross change concerns patient advocates for autistic children - TwinCities.com

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota will begin dropping coverage in most cases for a costly therapy for autistic children as early as Jan. 1 - a change that has patient advocates worried about losing coverage through a key state program, too.

The Eagan-based health insurer said Monday that the coverage change will be phased in over next year and affect about 200 children who have been receiving a treatment known as early intensive behavioral intervention. The treatment cost averages about $80,000 per year.

Autism is one of four developmental disabilities grouped under the heading of Autism Spectrum Disorders, which can cause significant social, communication and behavioral changes. The federal government estimates that an average of one in 110 children in the United States have one of the disorders.

Blue Cross is changing its coverage policy to match that of other health plans as well as the state Department of Human Services, said Pam Lux, a spokeswoman for the insurer.

That's bad news, patient advocates said, because Blue Cross has been one of the few health plans to provide coverage of the intensive therapy, which in some cases involves 40 hours per week of treatment.

But the insurer's reference to the Department of Human Services also is concerning, advocates said, because the state has been a key source of coverage for families that don't have Blue Cross coverage.

"We're concerned that this is a harbinger of something on the horizon

Special needs disability parenting BLOOM: Costs, quality-of-life ratings put complex kids' care at risk

Special needs disability parenting BLOOM: Costs, quality-of-life ratings put complex kids' care at risk

Pressure to contain health costs over the next decade will put the care of a small group of children with complex medical needs and severe disabilities at risk, says Dr. Chris Feudtner, pediatrician and director of the department of medical ethics at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.

“About 20 per cent of the pediatric population generates about 80 per cent of our health-care bill,” said Dr. Feudtner at a Grand Rounds on ethics in the care of children with disabilities at Montreal Children’s Hospital last week.

“The rallying cry is that we need to cut down on the use of what are called marginal therapies – on drugs, therapies and procedures that cost a tremendous amount of money but offer little benefit. It’s a short manoeuvre from that mindset to take certain people with certain conditions and marginalize them.”

More @ http://bloom-parentingkidswithdisabilities.blogspot.com/2011/12/costs-quality-of-life-assumptions-put.html