Legislature.com

Health insurers regulated by the state would have to cover treatment for autism under a bill that has passed the House and moved to the Senate.

Rep. Dwight Scharnhorst (R-Manchester) said during his opening remarks on the House floor that his bill would mandate the coverage of a wide range of disorders, called the autism spectrum disorder. HCS HB 1311&1341 passed the House Thursday on a 135-to-18 vote.

Scharnhorst took pains during his opening remarks to point out provisions to protect small businesses from any spikes in health care premiums due to the mandate. He noted that if a small business experiences a premium increase of 2 1/2 %, it could opt out of the mandate.

You can listen to longer version of Rep.Scharnhorst’s comments at Missourinet.com, but here’s the “money cut.”

AUDIO: Missourinet News Capsule :60

• The number of initiative petitions filed for state reviews before their circulation has increased by more than 600 percent since 2004. The legislature being asked to control that growth. A senate committee is looking at Bray’s bill, and at some alternative proposals. AUDIO from committee meeting. AUDIO at Missourinet.com
• Missouri House leaders defend resolutions aimed at Congress. AUDIO

From an interesting post by Missourinet News Director Bob Priddy on the Missourinet blog.

You know it’s a slow news day when reporters resort to reading the Missouri Constitution.

Monday, being President’s day and therefore a day of much idleness among normal news sources, was one of those days. During the holiday ruminations we recalled our discussion last week with Rep. Jason Smith about his proposal to require special elections to be held whenever there is a vacancy in statewide elected offices. And suddenly this thought struck us:

One of our recent lieutenant governors might have served illegally for almost two months.

You can read the full post here.

The proposal to force insurance companies to cover therapies for autism disorders might be leaving out thousands of Missouri children. This year’s version of the autism coverage mandate specifically excludes those who get healthcare through the Medicaid program—Mo Healthnet, as it’s called. Full story at Missosurinet.com

Audio excerpt from Senate debate (40 min)