DoD Announces New Autism Program

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DoD Announces New Autism Program
Active duty military parents of autistic children got good news this week
when Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs Dr. S. Ward Casscells
announced that a new TRICARE demonstration program to help autistic children
will begin no later than March 15.
The announcement came at an autism conference at Camp Pendleton, CA hosted
by Marine Corps Installations West (MCIW) and Naval Hospital Camp Pendleton,
and drew applause from attending parents of children with autism.
The new program will recognize a special class of tutors as TRICARE
providers to implement applied behavior analysis (ABA) treatment. Finding an
ABA-trained provider has been a challenge for many military parents, since
their numbers are limited.
"Obviously, it's always about the kids," said Maj Gen Michael Lehnert, MCIW
commanding general. "But it's also a good business decision to intervene
early...[to help] these children become productive citizens as opposed to
institutionalizing them."
Joy Dunlap, MOAA Deputy Director for Military Family Issues, represented
MOAA at the conference. "This is a very important improvement for the
affected families," she said, "and Dr. Casscells and his staff deserve
credit for its rapid implementation. But there's still a great deal that
needs to be done to ease financial and administrative challenges imposed on
military families affected by autism and other disabling children's
diseases."
While the demonstration would create more access to ABA therapy for autistic
military children, parents will still have to contend with TRICARE's $2,500
monthly cap on expenses. That limit often doesn't cover the full amount of
doctor-prescribed ABA therapy. That means in order to obtain the prescribed
amount, many parents will still have to pay thousands of dollars out of
pocket each month. MOAA believes raising the $2,500 monthly cap on
reimbursement should be a priority.

Jim Bunker
VP National Gulf War Resource Center
NGWRC: Serving veterans of recent and current wars
Disabled Veteran help desk (not a part of the DAV)
http://groups. yahoo.com/ group/Disabled- Vet-help- desk/
Veteran Information Network ( NEW URL)
http://www.veterani nformationnetwor k.net/
Veterans of Southwest Asia
http://groups. yahoo.com/ group/Vets- of-SWA/
KS- VMW site
www.ksvet.net

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