COLORADO: Governor Bill Ritter is expected to sign legislation mandating coverage : EasyToInsureMe

COLORADO Health Insurance : Governor Bill Ritter is expected to sign legislation mandating coverage for autism services and therapy. The legislation would take effect on July 1, 2010 and apply to all group policies, exempting the individual market. Due to an education campaign by health plans, the bill was scaled back from an earlier version. It now includes annual maximums depending on the child's age, licensing or national certification of all autism providers, mandatory treatment plans and no specific prohibitions on the use of utilization review. The bill previously exempted all state-sponsored benefit plans, including state employees' plans, from the coverage requirement. But after hearing the wrath of the business community, only state Medicaid plans were exempted.