Insurance Coverage for Autism Services

Here is some information that might help you receive coverage using ACT 62

PA Autism Insurance Act (Act 62)

For more information Click Here

An Act amending the act of May 17, 1921 (P.L.682, No.284), known as The Insurance Company Law of 1921, in preliminary provisions, further providing for effect of act on existing laws; in life insurance, further providing for additional investment authority for subsidiaries; in casualty insurance, providing for autism spectrum disorders coverage and for colorectal cancer screenings coverage; in insurance holding companies, further providing for definitions, for acquisition of control of or merger with domestic insurer, for acquisitions involving insurers not otherwise covered and for standards and management of an insurer within a holding company system; providing for committee review; establishing the Insurance Restructuring Restricted Receipt Account; providing for community health reinvestment; and making a related repeal.
Prime Sponsor: Representative D. O’BRIEN

Last Action: Act No. 62

To read ACT 62 Click Here

Section 635.2. Autism Spectrum Disorders Coverage.

19 health insurance policy or government program covered under this
20 section shall provide to covered individuals or recipients under
21 twenty-one(21) years of age coverage for the diagnostic
22 assessment of autism spectrum disorders and for the treatment of
23 autism spectrum disorders.
24(b) Coverage provided under this section by an insurer shall
25 be subject to a maximum benefit of thirty-six thousand dollars
26($36,000) per year but shall not be subject to any limits on the
27 number of visits to an autism service provider for treatment of
28 autism spectrum disorders. After December30, 2011, the
29 Insurance Commissioner shall, on or before April1 of each
30 calendar year, publish in the Pennsylvania Bulletin an

1 adjustment to the maximum benefit equal to the change in the
2 United States Department of Labor Consumer Price Index for All
3 Urban Consumers (CPI-U) in the preceding year, and the published
4 adjusted maximum benefit shall be applicable to the following
5 calendar years to health insurance policies issued or renewed in
6 those calendar years. Payments made by an insurer on behalf of a
7 covered individual for treatment of a health condition unrelated
8 to or distinguishable from the individual’s autism spectrum
9 disorder shall not be applied toward any maximum benefit
10 established under this subsection.
11© Coverage under this section shall be subject to
12 co- payment, deductible and coinsurance provisions, and any other
13 general exclusions or limitations of a health insurance policy
14 or government program to the same extent as other medical
15 services covered by the policy or program are subject to these
16 provisions.
17(d) This section shall not be construed as limiting benefits
18 which are otherwise available to an individual under a health
19 insurance policy or government program.
20(d.1) This section shall not be construed as requiring
21 coverage by insurers of any service based solely on its
22 inclusion in an individualized education program. Consistent
23 with Federal or State law and upon consent of the parent or
24 guardian of the covered individual, the treatment of autism
25 spectrum disorders may be coordinated with any service included
26 in an individualized education program. Coverage for the
27 treatment of autism spectrum disorders shall not be contingent
28 upon a coordination of services with an individualized education
29 program.
30(e)(1) This section shall apply to any health insurance
1 policy offered, issued or renewed on or after July1,2009, in
2 this Commonwealth to groups of fifty-one (51) or more employees
3 Provided, That this section shall not include the following
4policies

Snow Policy

In most cases, The Wanna Play Program will make decisions about canceling services based on the Marple Newtown School District, however, snow cancellation will be left to the discretion of The Wanna Play Program directors. Information regarding the cancellation of groups due to inclement weather will be on the voice mail greeting. Full day cancellations will be announced on the voice mail greeting by 7:30 am and afternoon and evening cancellations will be announced by 1:00pm. Snow days will not be made up. Please, call 610-853-2898 for more information.

Mirror Game

Purpose: In this game children are using their bodies in sync with another child. It gives the children the opportunity to have to regulate their movements in coordination with someone else. Even when they want to move fast they need to follow the other child. This activity helps encourage peer interaction and appropriate social eye contact and body awareness

Materials: poly-spots or construction paper taped to the ground (optional)

Preparation: none

Procedure:
1. Have children face each other either sitting cross-legged.
2. Have the children decide who is the mirror.
3. Instruct the children that the child who is not the mirror will do certain things that the mirror needs to copy.
4. After some times have the children stand (use spots to help kids stay in place if needed) and play again standing. Encourage the children to use their whole bodies.

Making Phrases Sweeter

Purpose: Analyze the phrases that we use and hear and find out if they are “Sweet Words” and if they can be improved on.

Materials: Posters/easel paper, markers, crayons/markers for children

Preparation: Make a list of words/phrases used by the children or by their favorite characters and cartoons. Write them out on one poster for children. Use ones the children have used or ones that can be found in current culture including popular cartoon characters.

Procedure:
1. Show children and read the list of words and phrases
2. Have children go and identify which are in “Sweet Words” and which are not.
3. As a class or in small groups have the children rephrase the words to make them “Sweet Words”

We've Moved!!!

The Wanna Play Program is excited to announce that we have move to a new wonderful site. Our new location is in Newtown Square near the corner of 252 and West Chester Pike. Our bright beautiful new space has more playrooms for us to offer fun and learning to more children. Our first session will be starting January 11th and we have room for all who want to make friends and have fun.

We can’t wait to share it with you.

The Wanna Play Program
3625 Chapel Rd.
Newtown Square, PA 19073
610-853-2898
mail@wannaplayprogram.com

We Need Your Help!

The Wanna Play Program has some great ideas for changes we can make, but we need your help to do it. We are looking to switch back to a non-profit organization. We hope that this switch will allow us to apply for grants that we can use to grow our organization and provide our services to more children.

We have things in the works to get this started, but are finding that we could really use some help to make it happen. This is where you can come into play!

Below is a wishlist of help that we need to make this transition happen. Our hope is that you, or perhaps someone you know could help out and volunteer some time to help us grow!

If you think you may be able to help out please call us at 610-853-2898 or email Kelly at kpeters@wannaplayprogram.com.

Thanks for looking!

The Wanna Play Program

Wishlist

Taxes: Help to review taxes of our dormant non-profit and file appropriate tax paperwork.

Non-Profit status: Help renewing our 501c3 status- mostly just filling out paperwork and making some calls to help us get things in order.

Grant writing/research: We have some leads on grants that we could get and could use help to look for more and apply for them.

Join Our Mailing List!

Occasionally (about once every 1-2 months) we send out newsletters about our program, upcoming events, and services we offer. If you would like to join our mailing list please enter your information below.

Making Eye Contact for Interaction

“The eyes are the windows to the soul,” the proverb says. This is why they deserve a unit of their own. This is the beginning of all interactions. Eye contact with infants is the key form of communication. It is how they learn about the world around them. Children use eye contact to develop their perception of trust and what is a constant in the world. Through the years of development, children use eye contact to explore and learn. It is key in learning the forms of communication such as language, gesture, and expression. Without eye contact, we would be unable to get information about the world around us.

The key to success in this program is an emphasis on developing eye-contact frequency and duration. There are many factors that come into play when we see children who are not making eye contact. Some of these include visual sensitivity, auditory sensitivity, sensory over-stimulation, or even a lack of understanding of the role of eye contact in interaction. We need to remember, as those responsible for the social development of a child, that if the child is not making eye contact, he or she is not engaging, attending, or focusing.

Children are tricky when it comes to avoiding eye contact. They are more vested in avoidance than we are. This avoidance is a safety mechanism for them in some form and therefore they will try to hold on to it as much as they can

Excerpt from:
Wanna Play: Friendship Skills for Preschool and Elementary Grades, Ross, M.S.Ed., Ruth Herron; Roberts-Pacchionne, Beth, Corwin Press, Thousand Oaks, CA:2006

New Staff At Wanna Play

Ruth Ross and Beth Roberts are excited to announce the addition of new staff for the program at Wanna Play this summer.

Nancy Handschuh

Nancy Handschuh graduated Shippensburg University with a degree in Elementary Education/Early Childhood. She spent the next 10 years teaching preschool and kindergarten while starting her family and raising her children. While they were still young, she went back to school to become an occupational therapy assistant with the intent to work with the geriatric/rehabilitation population. After graduation she began working at Bryn Mawr Rehab part-time and then began working at Easter Seals in Downingtown at various locations (Devereaux, Camp Hill and handwriting clinics). Eventually she began working at Delaware County Intermediate Unit in Early Intervention while still â€œmoonlightingâ€ at Bryn Mawr Rehab and the Pediatric Rehab at the Healthplex. This was for 7 years followed by 3 years in a private pediatric practice. Presently she is working at Elwyn as a contract therapist and is looking forward to her new association with The Wanna Play Program. Nancy has completed 2 years of DIR/Floortime training attending 2 Institutes and participating in individual mentoring. She is also certified in Therapeutic Listening and Interactive Metronome. Starting this summer Nancy will be providing DIR Model and Floortime Play Opportunities for individuals and dyads both at Wanna Play and in the home. Nancy will also be providing Interactive Metronome Training and assisting in our summer camp program.

Kelly Peters

Kelly Peters was born and raised in Broomall, PA. At a young age Kelly developed an interest in working with children. She baby-sat for families in her community and worked as a camp counselor at the Julian Krinsky Summer Camp. Kelly also worked as a Drama and Music Teacher at the School of Rose Valley’s summer program where she realized her desire to pursue a career in helping children. After graduating from Marple Newtown High School in 2001, Kelly attended Temple University. In January of 2006 she graduated Magna Cum Laude with a B.A. in Psychology and a minor in Theater. She has continued classes in sign language in hopes to pursue an interpreter’s certificate in the future.
Kelly has spent the last year working at Devereux CARES where she gained experience with ABA techniques. During this time Kelly was also trained in PECS and other forms of facilitated communication.
During an internship in the fall of 2005 Kelly was first introduced to the Wanna Play Program. She has been working part time with the organization since the completion of her internship and hopes to learn more about various approaches to working with special needs children. Through her experiences, Kelly strives to continually expand upon her abilities to actively engage this population. Kelly will be continuing to assist with groups and run individual session through the summer. She will also be involved in our summer camp program planning and running classes.

Please contact us for more information about the camp, group and individual times and availability.

Wanna Play Program
www.wannaplayprogram.com
mail@wannaplayprogram.com
610-853-2898

Monica Marharian

“Real answers for real problems. Functional qualities of life solutions versus ‘building towers’, rote speech and emphasis on self-esteem.”