At the end of last week, the U.S. House passed the Defense Appropriations Act, which included an amendment from a Florida Republican to increase aid to military families with autistic children.
At the end of last year, the Defense Health Agency (DHA) announced it would cut reimbursements for applied behavior analysis (ABA) services through TRICARE, the health-care program used by active duty and retired military personnel. The cuts took effect in April. Much of these cuts impacted assistance for autistic children.
Back in the summer, U.S. Rep. Tom Rooney, R-Fla. teamed up with U.S. Reps. John Larson, D-Ct., and U.S. Rep. Chris Smith, R-NJ, to offer an amendment to restore the ABA services reimbursement funds. The House added Rooney’s amendment to the Defense Appropriations Act back in June.
On Friday, the House passed the final version of the bill which stood at $619 billion, on a 375-34 vote.
“Having a child with Autism Spectrum Disorder shouldn’t make it harder for you to serve in the military,” Rooney said after the House passed the act with his amendment as part of it. “This amendment is a commonsense adjustment to an ill-informed policy that never should have been changed in the first place. I am pleased that the final compromise bill included my provision to ensure that our service members and veterans are able to access basic health-care services for their children.”
“Our military families sacrifice so much already, but they should never be asked to sacrifice the health and wellbeing of their children,” said Larson. “Reversing these cuts will assist families who already face significant challenges, ensuring they can access the care they need. I was proud to lead the fight with Rep. Rooney to help our military families, and thank the conferees for including it in this bill. We will continue to be vigilant moving forward to ensure that our military families are able to access the health-care services they need.”
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