Health insurance is something many families rely on to keep their children healthy.
Some eastern Iowa parents who have children with autism are not able to depend on insurance.
According to Autism Speaks, there are many Iowa families who have children with autism that do not have private insurance coverage.
A bill to change this passed in the Senate this year, but it failed in the House.
That means they have to pay for treatment and therapy out of pocket.
Suzanne Bartlett’s son John was diagnosed with autism when he was 2 years old.
John is now 15 and is able to live a normal life, thanks to the help he received starting at a young age.
Suzanne says paying for all of this hasn’t been cheap.
She says, “We’ve done things like physical therapy, we’ve done occupations therapy, and we’ve done speech and language therapy. All of those things cost money and they haven’t been covered by insurance. ”
Suzanne is one of the board of directors for the Autism Society of Iowa.
She says many families are still struggling for insurance coverage, and Iowa is one of the only states with this problem.
KWWL checked in with representative Walt Rogers to see why the house not pass this bill this year.
He responded with a statement from the house that said both the democrats and the republicans believe autism will be covered this coming year.
They believe private insurance companies will be solving this problem on their own, without government interference.
According to Autism Speaks, there are 43 states that require health insurers to cover the treatment of children with autism.