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August 13, 2009 Volume 5, Number 31 | ||
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In This
Issue .
Farm
Tour .
Autism .
Cynthia in the
News .
A Little Bit
of Humor. E-Mail
cynthia.davis@house.mo.gov Find me
on
Committees Special
Committee on Children and Families Chair Chair Special Committee on State
Parks and Waterways Official Homepage for Official Government Homepage for your
Look up Missouri House Bills - View Entire Text, Summary, and Last Action Look up Consumer Complaints & Fraudulent Activity, No-Call List Federal
Links Congressman Blaine
Luetkemeyer |
Farm
Tour Representative
Davis attended the Farm Tour last week conducted by Wendy Flatt,
MU
Extension Livestock Specialist.
During the tour some of the presenters went into details on how Pictured
in front of the
Left-most
photo is Rep. Davis and Wendy joined by Todd Lorenz MU Extension
agronomist for Representative
Davis is the only current officeholder in Let's
Talk About Autism My
heartfelt admiration goes out to parents of an autistic child.
Welcoming a newborn baby is such a joyous event, so it can be
challenging when things don't go as planned.
One of
my favorite books, Parenting Isn't For
Cowards by Dr.
James Dobson, explains some of the heroism necessary for effective child
rearing. Parenting is riddled with all kinds of jolts that
defy our expectations and add to the joys as well as difficulties of
raising responsible adults. However when parents discover their
child is autistic, they need even more quality affirmation and support
from all of us in their lives. A bill
was introduced last session that failed because
it: 1.)
Would
have forced private medical insurance companies to extend additional
coverage beyond medical treatments for those diagnosed with this
condition. 2.)
Would
have forced higher insurance premiums to cover these services, some of
which more appropriately would be a function of our educational
system. 3.)
Was
structured as an unfunded government mandate -which means it forces
someone else to incur the cost associated with delivering a service- but
doesn't provide the resources to pay for it. Unfunded mandates are
therefore de facto tax increases. 4.)
Was
anti-free market. People need to be free to make their own choices
of what they want to buy. 5.)
Was
simply "feel good legislation" which would make the elected officials feel
proud of them selves, but give the public the false sense that a problem
has been solved. Had it passed, it would have benefited only 22% of those
affected. 6.)
Would
have driven up medical insurance premiums for everyone else, further
reducing the numbers of those who can purchase medical
insurance. 7.)
Would
not have required special services for autistic children of persons
covered through federally-regulated large employer plans (ERISA).
These plans provide health care for approximately 30% of Missourians.
All of this adds up to a larger gap between "the haves" and "the
have-nots" and accomplishing nothing for those who have no medical
insurance. Most
medical insurance companies already cover all the physical dysfunctions
related to autism. Those pushing this bill were asking the medical
insurance companies also to cover educational problems in a category
called Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA). An educational difficulty
is not the same as a medical problem. Autism is more than physical;
above all, it is a spectrum of mental-behavioral inclinations that vary in
intensity. Forcing
the medical insurance companies to pay for this treatment would have been
precedent setting by requiring them to pay for something non-medical.
My
solution is different: O
I am
asking that the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education evaluate
whether the O
I also
am asking for the State of O
Additionally, I am asking
the University system to set up a toll free helpline for parents to call
with their questions. There is a substantial lack of information
unless you are well connected to those with the answers. Knowledge
is power. To empower parents, they need crucial information that
benefits their children. With my
proposed plan, parents will be able to help their children with the
support of their existing school district, while not raising premiums for
others who struggle to afford health insurance. As one who lived
without medical insurance for many years, I know how that feels.
Most parents want to help their children, but simply do not know
how. We can spend our tax dollars more effectively if
we empower parents by providing them with the information they need
to lovingly help their own children. I remain
optimistic that we can find free
market solutions to our problems. Using the iron fist of big
government to create additional
insurance mandates that hide the true cost and help only a select number
of children are unfair to everyone. All For more information regarding autism and
education you can follow this link to the Department of Elementary and Secondary
Education: http://www.dese.mo.gov/divspeced/EffectivePractices/Autism.htm Your
thoughts on
autism are important to me, so please feel free to send me
your opinion by clicking here:
Cynthia Davis Cynthia
in the News
Tim
Oliver did such a fine job of explaining how great it is to be educated on
guns in NRA
Interview with Cynthia Davis A Little
Bit of Humor "You
Don't Know Sheep"
"Johnnie." "Yes,
teacher." "If there are twenty
sheep in a pen, and one gets out through a hole in the fence, how many
sheep are left in the pen?" "None,
teacher." "Johnnie, there are
still nineteen sheep left in the pen. Obviously you don't know
arithmetic." "Sorry, teacher, but
I do know arithmetic. Obviously you don't know
sheep."
This
Capitol Report is a weekly column by Representative Cynthia
Davis, from the
19th District, covering events in the Missouri Legislature and
district-wide issues. ?
If you know anyone who would like to receive my Capitol Report, please
send an e-mail to Cynthia Davis with the
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