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Concept
Ryan's Law
Summary
Ryan's Law is a South Carolina law which requires insurance companies to cover treatments for autism. The law states that insurance companies must provide up to $50,000, annually, on behavioral therapy, up to the age of 16. The law provides coverage for various treatments, including Applied Behavior Analysis, which was previously denied as "experimental". Ryan's Law also prohibits insurers from refusing other medical care to children because of their autism. The law does not apply to people who (or companies which) are self-insured.
The bill was authored by Lorri Unumb, who was at the time a law professor at the Charleston School of Law, and the mother of a four-year-old autistic boy, after whom the law is named. Passage of the legislation took nearly two years, and was the result of an intense grassroots campaign which was orchestrated by Unumb and supported by hundreds of families in South Carolina. Lacking funds to hire a lobbyist, Unumb and the supporters, known as the Ryan’s Law Grassroots Gang, personally lobbied South Carolina legislators through visits and letter-writing campaigns. The bill was passed in May 2007, and the law went into effect in July 2008.
The term "autism" is used in different ways. It can be used to refer to autistic disorder, or it can be used to refer to any or all of the three conditions on the autism spectrum, autism, Asperger syndrome and PDD-NOS. Under the fourth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV), the three conditions on the autism spectrum belong to a broader class known as Pervasive Developmental Disorders (PDD), which also includes Rett syndrome and childhood disintegrative disorder.
The bill was written by Unumb and pre-filed in the South Carolina legislature in late 2005. Rep. Nathan Ballentine (R-Irmo) was the primary sponsor in the South Carolina House of Representatives, and Rep. Ray Cleary (R-Murrell's Inlet) was the primary sponsor in the South Carolina Senate. The companion House and Senate bills were first considered by the South Carolina legislature during the 2006 session.
Official source
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