Children with Autism need more support.
(Mirror Daily, United States) – Based on the latest findings, most of the United States children who are diagnosed with autism receive treatment in states where commercial health insurers cover the medical assistance offered to these kids.
A team of scientists from the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, Philadelphia, has conducted a study to establish the overall situation of all children throughout the country who might suffer from autism even if they haven’t received a diagnose yet.
According to David Mandell, lead author, professor of the psychiatry department, and Penn’s Center for Mental Health Policy and Services Research director, more children are being provided with the proper treatment in the United States, and this is a good thing, but the problem is that there are many other kids that suffer from this disorder even if they haven’t received a diagnose until now.
It means that there is a dire need for action to improve the situation of these kids that require more attention and support. Autism is a health condition that manifests through various symptoms such as social communication difficulties, repetitive behavior, and so on.
Based on the statistics from the United States health officials, 1 in 68 children throughout the country suffers from this disorder. The treatment is very expensive and involves 25 hours of behavioral and educational therapy every week for a couple of years.
Experts from the Autism Speaks, an advocacy organization, stated that intensive behavioral treatments proved to be very efficient as they improved social skills, communication, and learning. Indiana was the first state that requested health insurers to pay the expenses of behavioral treatment for this disorder fifteen years ago.
The same initiative was adopted by 43 other states since then as they also doubled their efforts to make sure that medical assistance would be more affordable for most families.
The team of scientists investigated outpatient and inpatient health insurance claims between 2008 and 2012.This way, they were able to estimate the effectiveness of these regulations among over 1 million children 21 years old and younger who suffered from autism.
The patients benefited from health insurance from Humana, Aetna, and United HealthCare, which are among the top United States health insurers. More than 154,000 children were diagnosed with this spectrum disorder during the research, as the mandates indicated a 12.7 percent increase in diagnoses every year.
Image Source:Teper Law