Colorado Families With Autistic Children Get Some Great News
DENVER (CBS4) - Gov. John Hickenlooper has approved a law that could change the lives of hundreds of children in Colorado with autism. The law allocates millions of dollars to make sure those children are getting the treatment they need.
Hickenlooper called for the law in his State of the State address. He says it could literally transform lives by getting treatment for children with autism that costs tens of thousands of dollars a year. Until now there was little help for those who couldn't afford it.
When Alicia Engebretson learned her son Tyler had autism she knew there was a short window of time for therapy to be effective.
"If you get it young you're on a better track. The longer you wait the more rigid they become and it's harder to break the habit," Engebretson said.
But that therapy costs upwards of $30,000 a year. So like other families, Engebretson got on a waitlist for a Medicaid waiver.
"We filled out all the paperwork for that and kind of got our hopes up," she said.
But a year later the list has barely moved. It includes 350 children all vying for just 75 waivers. The average wait is over two years and many children like Tyler will never make it off the waitlist. Eligibility runs out at age six.
"We saw this as one of the real priorities," Hickenlooper said.
The governor called on the Legislature pass a bill, which is now law, that eliminates the waitlist, raises the age limit to eight, and guarantees every child diagnosed with autism at least three years of services at a cost to the state of $10 million.
"It will save many, many tens of millions down the road, not to mention taking lives and transforming them," Hickenlooper said.
Lives like the Engebretsons who pay for all Tyler's therapy out of pocket.
"We do it and we spend every dime because he needs it. We want him to be the best he can be. We know he has great potential because he's so bright and he has hard time just reaching that," Engebretson said.
The expanded waiver program is funded 50-50 from state and federal dollars. While the state approved its share, the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services still needs to approve its contribution. A spokesman for the agency says while it's not a guarantee, more often than not new waivers are approved, but it could be several months.
