Private insurance companies will continue denying coverage of autism treatments under a bill passed 49-1 by the state Senate on Sunday, opponents said prior to the vote.

The opponents originally stood as proponents of a mandate forcing private coverage, but the final version of the bill was so amended, they said, the proposed mandate would actually hurt families dealing with autism.

The original version — authored by state House Speaker Dennis O'Brien, who slammed the final Senate revisions prior to its passage Sunday — would have forced insurance companies to cover autism treatments up to $36,000, with the state's Medical Assistance program helping families with any costs above the cap.

A report commissioned by the Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council said last week that the original mandate would end up costing all insurance customers about $1 per month.

The Senate Banking & Insurance Committee, however, amended the bill last week. According to O'Brien and others who once supported the bill, the revisions passed Sunday by the Senate allow insurance companies to decide for themselves what services to cover.

While the bill sets up a system to challenge any denial, disappointed former supporters said the bill now makes affording vital but expensive treatments prohibitive.

"When insurers deny coverage, families will have no alternative but to reach into their own pockets to pay for the medical treatment," Estelle Richman, a one-time supporter and secretary of the Department of Public Welfare, wrote in a letter Sunday to Republican Sen. Don White, a former insurance broker and chairman of the Banking & Insurance Committee. "This means they will be worse off. … "

O'Brien, who has placed much of his legacy as a legislator into getting this mandate passed, called the bill an "illusion" of insurance coverage for autistic children.

Also rejecting the new bill were AutismLink and the Autism Center of Pittsburgh, but the national organization Autism Speaks announced its support of the current version as did Sen. Jane Orie, co-chair of the Autism Caucus.

"The bill now moving forward, if signed into law, would be the strongest autism insurance mandate yet achieved in the nation," said Elizabeth Emken, vice president of government relations for Autism Speaks.

Supporters also trumpet other amendments to the bill, including government oversight of a pending merger of two large Pennsylvania insurance companies — Highmark and Independence Blue Cross — and insurance coverage of colorectal cancer screenings.

I am Spartacus!

Or in this case, "We are Hussein!"

In an article from The New York Times, there's a growing movement in chatrooms, blogs and online social networks like Facebook by people who insert "Hussein" into their own names.

For example, I'd be "David George Hussein Pidgeon."

The practice is a reaction to Republican attacks against Democratic White House hopeful Barack Obama, whose middle name is Hussein, one he inherited from his Kenyan father. Although Obama is a Christian, some sinister political attacks have been lobbed his way, suggesting the name means he's a Muslim or a terrorist.

The Times article says the practice isn't a widespread trend, but people appear tired (i.e. ticked off) about making much ado about a middle name. The last time any of us checked, the U.S. Constitution doesn't disqualify someone for their last name.

Quotes of the Week

"Do McCain's free-market, tax-cut ideas trump Obama's government-sponsored programs? Well, (free market policies) work in the good times, but in the bad times, since the New Deal, people look to the government for help."

— G. Terry Madonna, director of Franklin & Marshall College's Center for Politics & Public Affairs, about an F&M poll that showed 66 percent of registered voters nationally believe the government can solve their problems.

•••

"In the years past, it's reminded me of a situation where the parents are upstairs working on important issues, like paying the mortgage, while the kids are down in the rec room trying to stay occupied,"

— State Rep. Greg Vitali, a Delaware County Democrat, about the lack of floor movement on the state budget while legislative leaders and the governor negotiate behind closed doors.

E-mail: dpidgeon@lnpnews.com