Sen. Rich Madaleno sent out the following email today:
This week I had the pleasure of testifying with District 18 activist Aaron Kaufman on an important health care bill I introduced this session. The bill would require health insurers to cover speech, physical, and occupational therapy for people with congenital or genetic disabilities, which currently they do not have to do for adults. (Delegates Gutierrez, Lawton, and Waldstreicher are all sponsors of the House version of the bill.) Maryland took the lead in 2000 by mandating this coverage for children through age 19. Now that Aaron (who has cerebral palsy) is 20, he is no longer covered by private health insurance for these services which are difficult to receive through Medicaid. Not receiving these services only exacerbates his condition, undoing the therapy and his hard work of these past years. I was very pleased to be able to introduce this legislation that would help some of our most vulnerable citizens.
I wanted to share his testimony with you because it was particularly moving. He did an excellent job of delivering it, and I think he really had an impact on the members of the committee. You could have heard a pin drop while he spoke.
Thanks, Rich
SUPPORT: SB 944 – HABILITATIVE SERVICES
Senate Finance Committee
March 22, 2007
Chairman Middleton, Sen. Astle and members of the Committee.
Hello. My name is Aaron Kaufman. I want to thank you for allowing me to come before you today to discuss this important issue. I also want to thank Sen. Madaleno and the co-sponsors for their support and hard work on this legislation.
I am 20 years old. I have a disability called Cerebral Palsy. I am joined here today by my brother Jay, who is 23 and also has CP. We were both born with CP. Although we are fortunate that our disability is not life threatening, it is a lifelong challenge that requires consistent, continuous care. The most vital part of that care is physical therapy, which both Jay and I received until our private health care insurance company cut off all therapies (Physical, Occupational and Speech) when we each turned 20.
As Jay has already experienced, without physical therapy my condition will worsen, causing painful contractures and increased muscle tightness. This will require surgeries, drugs and extensive procedures my brother and other friends here with me today have already experienced.
Do we tell a diabetic you are 42 so no more insulin? Do we tell a cancer patient, sorry, you are 37, no more chemo? Of course not! Then why tell people with CP and other severe disabilities just that, you’re 20 and no more treatment.
In Maryland if you are born with a disability the insurance companies can and do cut off your therapies when you reach the age of twenty. In contrast to someone who was injured in say a car accident or other tragedy, they are entitled to physical therapy for as long as necessary and are not arbitrarily cut off.
My family currently pays over $45,000 a year in medical insurance premiums; in addition they must pay the deductibles, co-pays and related medical expense not covered under the policy. Until my brother and I reached the age of 20 the policy also covered my physical therapy and occupational therapy and his physical therapy and speech therapy. When they cut off our therapies the premium did not go down with the reduction in coverage, rather it went up.
The average price of physical therapy in Montgomery County is approximately $80-90 per session. That works out to be over $17,000 a year as the cost for my and my brother’s physical therapy. My occupational therapy and my brother’s speech therapy would double that cost to my family. Medicaid does cover physical therapy, in theory but not in real life. They only pay $27 for a session. We have not been able to find a single physical therapist in Montgomery County who will accept Medicaid.
My insurance company may save some money in the short term by not paying for therapy however, as a result of the inevitable complications they will have to pay far more for the costly remedial procedures than they would if they simply covered the physical therapy in the first place.
The insurance companies don’t seem to understand that weekly physical therapy can save them the cost of major procedures needed later, to undo the damage done by not having physical, occupational or speech therapy.
This bill addresses the inequity faced by individuals born with disabilities and provides them with the same rights as those who are injured later in life. It also addresses the arbitrary age cut-off date.
I am hopeful that this committee will take swift action to address the problems faced by my family and many other families with regard to services that are vital to people with disabilities. I hope you will vote for SB 944.
Again thank you for your time and consideration. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me at 301-951-3477 or amkaufman87@comcast.net.
