An Oklahoma bill mandating health insurance coverage of autism died in that state’s legislature in February. Now, leading advocates for the measure are blaming an actuary who they allege provided legislators biased projections of the bill’s cost.
Thomas E. Cummins told Oklahoma House leaders that the proposed autism insurance mandate would increase health insurance rates in the state by 7.8 to 19.8 percent. Meanwhile, other studies indicated that any increase would be no more than 1 percent.
Wayne and Robyne Rohde, who advocated heavily for the legislation, say that Cummins’ work is biased and they filed a complaint with the Actuarial Board for Counseling and Discipline. They allege that Cummins’ report “wrongfully influenced the decisions of members of the Oklahoma House” and they want Cummins to publicly retract and correct his estimates, reports The Associated Press. To read more click here.
