Dear Concerned Voters:

It has been a busy time across the country with many successes and a few set backs. On the success front, we have seen new legislation enter into the state of Michigan by supporters of Autism Speaks for insurance reform. Pennsylvania and Florida continue to fight for passage of their insurance reform, having public hearing in the last few weeks.

Arizona Becomes Latest State to Revise its Insurance Laws to Require Coverage of Evidence-Based, Medically Necessary Autism Therapies! Autism Speaks today joined Arizona families and other autism advocacy organizations in applauding Governor Janet Napolitano and the state's legislators for enacting House Bill 2847, which will require insurance carriers to provide coverage of evidence-based, medically necessary autism therapies. In many states, insurers explicitly exclude coverage of these therapies from policies, which places a significant financial burden on families seeking to provide their children with necessary services

Oklahoma had a major set back as Nick˘s Law was unable to make it out of committee in the State House of Representatives. Supporters of a proposal to require insurance companies to cover costs related to autism were denied an opportunity to speak during a state House committee meeting Wednesday as the measure died in a procedural move. "We are not going to go away," said Robyne Rohde. The autism proposal, called "Nick's Law," is named after her 10-year-old son, Nick.  Rep. Ron Peterson denied an effort to get a hearing for the measure during Wednesday's meeting of his committee. He also refused supporters a chance to speak, although he allowed the opportunity for supporters of other measures to speak.

As for North Carolina , we are meeting this month with the Autism Society of North Carolina (ASNC) to map out a strategy and partnership on moving North Carolina forward. We are very please to be working with such a well respected group. I look forward to seeing everyone at the ASNC State Conference.

Please continue to pass my emails along to friends, families and colleagues as we continue to grow our grass-roots database of concerned Voters! Also please visit our new website for updates across the country. www.autismvotes.org , I will be updating the North Carolina section soon.

Again thank you for your time and support.

Bob D˘Amelio

Autism Speaks Advocacy Chair

rdamelio@...