What can I do right now?
While HB 569 has cleared the NH House, we are not there yet! Members of the NH Senate need to hear from their constituents about why they should vote in favor of Connor's Law. To see find your Senator, go to www.gencourt.state.nh.us/senate/senatemembers.asp
Please note that we have a number of co-sponsors in the Senate: Sen. Margaret Hassan, (D-Exeter), Sen Margaret Fuller Clark (D-Portsmouth), Sen. Molly Kelly (D-Keene), Sen. Kathleen Sgambati (D-Tilton), and Sen. Bette Lasky (D-Nashua). If you are a constituent, thank them and ask them to work with their colleagues for passage of HB 569.
What should I say?
It is very important that all advocates stay focused on a single, short message. Legislative sponsors and veteran advocates have worked for over a year in designing an approach that will provide the necessary coverage AND pass in this difficult economic climate. Please use this outline to focus on the following points:
Introduce yourself -- what is your connections with ASD? Where do you live?
State plainly that you want the Senator to support HB 569, which clarifies coverage for autism spectrum disorders under NH's existing parity law.
HB 569 will insure that children with ASD receive the treatments that have been shown to improve long term quality of life -- in many cases substantially.
HB 569 is NOT a new mandate. Rather, it brings the NH parity law that has been in place since 1997 up-to-date with regard to ASD. The covered treatments are now recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics and other professional groups.
Treatments lower lifetime cost by as much as 2/3rds. A cost benefit analysis of HB 569 shows that it will save $597.8 million dollars
A study requested by the NH Insurance Department demonstrated that the impact of covering treatments under this updated definition would be .2% to .4% or 77 cents to $1.42/member/month -- a very modest cost when compared to the long term impact of failing to treat children with ASD.
