OK, I may not have a popular opinion on this here but it has to be said.
The catch-22 is that the upfront costs of therapy for a child with autism is high BUT the cost of not doing the therapy is higher. The problem is that no one wants to pay the upfront cost. Parents simply do not have the money, insurance companies refuse to cover it (even though the purpose of insurance is to cover a financial catastrophe), and the government has so little resources to dedicate to autism therapy that the children end up not getting the therapy they need when it would do them the biggest good.
The stance of the business community is almost laughable because the fact that is missing is that autistic children become autistic adults. With therapy, there is a chance that the child will become a productive adult who will actually contribute back the cost of the therapy in the first place. Without therapy, the person will more likely than not become an adult who is not productive. Thus, while they are fighting to keep insurance costs down, they will pass on to their heirs of the business higher taxes to pay for the care of the autistic children when they become adults.
This same fight is happening in the state I reside in. What surprises me the most are which sides the political parties have taken. What gets me on all of this is that Health Insurance companies will not cover for treatment of autism, but a person with autism can be denied insurance simply because they have autism.
21 Jun 2010, 5:45 pm
