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state

hb16 would free up medicaid spending for autism treatment Legislative misfire in 2019 prevented medicaid from covering aba therapy by megan VaLLey and raymon troncoso

belleville news democrat & capitol news illinois Braxton Lear is 5 years old and tall for his age.

He runs – not walks – from his scooter, to the swing set, to the trampoline in his great-aunt’s backyard in Caseyville, about 12 miles east of St. Louis.

Braxton’s mom, Shannon Lear, asks him what’s his name, how old is he, and what’s her name. He answers.

“He couldn’t do that a year ago,” Lear said.

Braxton was diagnosed with autism around his third birthday. For the past year and a half, he’s been receiving autism behavioral therapy from the Hope Institute, which Lear said has completely changed his behavior and strengthened their bond.

In Illinois, private insurance has covered applied behavior analysis, or ABA, therapy for only about 10 years. Low-income families covered

by Medicaid aren’t eligible for the service to be covered, even though ABA therapy is the only evidence-based therapy proven to help children with autism.

Lear, a single mom working as a certified nursing assistant and studying in a culinary program, said she was able to get Braxton into a program only because his pre-K teacher told her how to apply for a grant.

Their insurance wouldn’t cover the therapy, and Lear said she doesn’t know how long the grant will cover it.

“It does scare me a little bit, if the funding runs out,” Lear said.

Help might be on the way from Springfield.

Legislation filed in the Illinois House would free up millions of dollars in Medicaid coverage for autism treatment after a previous bungled attempt in 2019.

House Bill 16, introduced by Rep. Deb Conroy, D-Villa Park, would amend rules for the state’s medical

assistance program to allow Medicaid to cover specific treatments for children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder.

ASD is a developmental disorder that affects communication and behavior. Children and adults diagnosed as being on the autism spectrum can present a wide range of symptoms with varying intensity, from being non-verbal to establishing unusual and repetitive lifelong routines.

ABA therapy is one of the most widespread evidence-based interventions used to treat ASD and other disorders that affect child development.

The Autism Program of Illinois headed by the Hope Institute, worked with Conroy on HB 16 and has lobbied for behavioral therapy to be covered through Medicaid funds. Hope currently provides behavioral therapy to about 200 children diagnosed with ASD through private insurance.

“What we’re trying to do is get those children into treatment early.

The studies show early intervention works, so if you get them at that 2 to 5 (age), then your outcomes are greater,” Hope CEO Clint Paul said in an interview. “It may be costly but that saves the state money on the back end, not having to pay special education tuition, private schools, to pay for residential placements.”

That early intervention seems to have worked for Braxton.

Before he started the therapy, Lear said, Braxton had some aggressive behaviors when he was frustrated, including biting hard enough to leave bruises and breaking some TVs. “His behaviors were really bad,” she said. “He was fighting me and leaving bruises.”

Braxton’s therapy focuses on communication and behaviors. As he started to talk more and communicate more efficiently, Lear said he’s

see ‘autism’ page 4

PHOTO BY DERIK HOLTMANN OF THE BELLEVILLE NEWS-DEMOCRAT

five-year-old braxton Lear and his mother, shannon Lear, play on a swing at a relative’s house in caseyville, illinois.

pag e 4 | Wednes day, Apri l 21, 20 21 | bugle n e w s pa p e r s .c om ‘autism’ from page 3 less frustrated, and his aggressive behaviors reduced. Now, she said there are times when he looks like he’s about to be aggressive, but he’s able to bring himself back down.

“He’s really excelled in a lot of areas,” she said. “ … He tries to be independent as much as he can.”

In 2008, embattled Gov. Rod Blagojevich signed a law the day after his arrest that mandated private insurance in Illinois cover the diagnosis and treatment of ASD, including behavioral therapy. Yet, despite a 2014

federal mandate that states cover autism treatment through Medicaid, Illinois was one of a handful of states that didn’t provide Medicaid coverage for behavioral therapy until 2019.

However, an error in implementation created restrictions on who could provide behavioral therapy, an obstacle that has functionally prevented Illinois’ Medicaid plan from covering behavioral therapy despite it technically being included in Medicaid spending on paper.

Each year, Illinois creates a budget for the upcoming fiscal year. The

General Assembly enacts this budget into law through two bills: an appropriations bill that allocates all federal funds, General Revenue Funds and other state funds to various state agencies, programs and municipalities; and a budget implementation bill that establishes how those various agencies and programs will spend those dollars.

In the Budget Implementation Act passed in 2019, legislators included coverage for behavioral therapy in the medical assistance program, which administers state and federal funds

from Medicaid and similar services to qualifying residents. Any changes in how Medicaid funding is being used must be included in a State Plan Amendment that is submitted to the federal government for approval, which is where the mistake occurred.

The Illinois Medicaid plan requires that a practitioner must be a Board Certified Behavior Analyst, or BCBA, and possess a second credential as either a Licensed Clinical Social Worker or a Licensed Clinical Psychologist in order to receive Medicaid funding for behavioral therapy. That plan was submitted to and approved by the federal government.

A notice from the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services released in October confirmed that dual credentials would be required to receive Medicaid funds through the department for behavioral therapy.

But the Illinois Autism Task Force, based in the Illinois Department of Human Services, warned in a February letter to Gov. JB Pritzker and the General Assembly that “the dual credential requirement will result in devastating barriers to access.” That same letter said only 26 BCBAs possessed one of the other required certifications and it was unclear whether any of the 26 provided behavioral therapy.

The Autism Task Force, in a 2020 meeting, claimed that $42 million placed in the state’s FY 2020 budget for behavioral therapy through Med-

icaid remained untouched due to the mistake.

Paul estimated there are about 3,500 ASD-diagnosed children under age 5 who are covered by Medicaid in Illinois.

The number of BCBAs in Illinois is around 1,400. While the 2009 law allows for BCBAs to provide behavioral therapy through private insurance, 98 percent of them cannot do the same through Medicaid, creating a significant monetary hurdle for low-income families of children with autism who cannot afford private insurance.

“We had the autism insurance law mandate many, many years ago, so all the private insurance companies like Blue Cross Blue Shield, Cigna, Aetna, all that have to cover behavioral therapy and they fund Board Certified Behavior Analysts,” Paul said HB 16, which currently sits in the House Rules Committee with about five weeks of the General Assembly’s session remaining, would amend the Illinois Public Aid Code to allow for just a BCBA certification for Medicaid coverage of behavioral therapy starting on July 1, the beginning of the 2022 fiscal year.

According to Paul, this would allow The Autism Program of Illinois and other autism coverage networks in the state to drastically expand the number of children that can receive treatment for their autism.

“It’s really just making Medicaid parity with the private insurance side of things.”

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Legal Listings

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real estate F20020125 CNLR IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE 12TH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT WILL COUNTY—JOLIET, ILLINOIS U. S. Bank National Association as trustee for CMALT REMIC 2007-A5 - REMIC Pass-Through Certificates. Series 2007A5 Plaintiff, vs.

Unknown heirs and legatees of Mary M. O’Keeffe aka Mary Meg OKeeffe; Lauren Herrera; Unknown Owners and Non-Record Claimants Defendants.

CASE NO. 21CH6 1113 Tara Court, Joliet, Illinois 60431

NOTICE FOR PUBLICATION The requisite affidavit for publication having been filed, notice is hereby given you, Unknown heirs and legatees of Mary M. O’Keeffe aka Mary Meg OKeeffe, and UNKNOWN OWNERS and NON-RECORD CLAIMANTS, defendants in the above entitled cause, that suit has been commenced against you and other defendants in the Circuit Court for the Judicial Circuit by said plaintiff praying for the foreclosure of a certain mortgage conveying the premises described as follows, to wit: LOT 147, IN COUNTRY GLEN ESTATES UNIT ONE, A SUBDIVISION OF PART OF THE SOUTHEAST 1/4 OF THE NORTHWEST 1/4 AND THE NORTHEAST 1/4

real estate OF THE SOUTHWEST 1/4 OF SECTION 3, TOWNSHIP 35 NORTH, RANGE 9, EAST OF THE THIRD PRINCIPAL MERIDIAN, ACCORDING TO THE PLAT THEREOF RECORDED JULY 30, 1990 AS DOCUMENT NO. R90-41499, IN WILL COUNTY, ILLINOIS. P.I.N.: 06-03-329-014-0000 Said property is commonly known as 1113 Tara Court, Joliet, Illinois 60431, and which said mortgage(s) was/were made by John R. O’Keeffe and Mary M. O’Keeffe and recorded in the Office of the Recorder of Deeds as Document Number R2007061163 and for other relief; that Summons was duly issued out of the above Court against you as provided by law and that said suit is now pending.

NOW THEREFORE, unless you, the said above named defendants, file your answer to the complaint in the said suit or otherwise make your appearance therein, in the Office of the Clerk of the Court at Will County on or before May 14, 2021, a default may be taken against you at any time after that date and a Judgment entered in accordance with the prayer of said complaint.

E-filing is now mandatory for documents in civil cases with limited exemptions. To efile, you must first create an account with an e-filing service provider. Visit http://efile. illinoiscourts.gov/service-providers.htm to learn more and to select a service provider.

If you need additional help or have trouble e-filing, visit www.illinoiscourts.gov/ FAQ/gethelp.asp.

YOU MAY STILL BE ABLE TO SAVE YOUR HOME. DO NOT IGNORE THIS DOCU-

real estate MENT. By order of the Chief Judge of the Circuit Court of the Twelfth Judicial Circuit, this case is set for Mandatory Mediation on _April 13, 2021 at 2:15 PM at the Will County Court Courthouse 100 W. Jefferson St, Joliet, Illinois, Room 441. A lender representative will be present along with a court appointed mediator to discuss options that you may have and to pre-screen you for a potential mortgage modification. For further information on the mediation process, please see the NOTICE OF MANDATORY MEDIATION on file with the Clerk of the Circuit Court or by contacting the Plaintiff’s attorney at the address listed below.

YOU MUST APPEAR ON THE MEDIATION DATE GIVEN, OR YOUR RIGHT TO MEDIATION WILL TERMINATE. This communication is an attempt to collect a debt and any information obtained will be used for that purpose.

Steven C. Lindberg Diaz Anselmo Lindberg, LLC 1771 W. Diehl Rd., Ste 120 Naperville, IL 60563-4947 630-453-6960 | 866-402-8661 | 630-428-4620 (fax) Attorney No. Cook 58852, DuPage 293191, Kane 031-26104, Peoria 1794, Winnebago 3802, IL 03126232 MidwestPleadings@dallegal.com THIS LAW FIRM IS DEEMED TO BE A DEBT COLLECTOR. Published 4/14, 4/21, 4/28

real estate IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE 12TH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT WILL COUNTY - JOLIET, ILLINOIS NEWREZ LLC D/B/A MORTGAGE SERVICING, PLAINTIFF VS.

SHELLPOINT

ANTONI J. WASOWSKI; UNKNOWN OWNERS GENERALLY; AND NON-RECORD CLAIMANTS. DEFENDANTS Case No: 2021CH000069 Property Address: 1318 Nicholson Street Joliet, IL 60435 NOTICE OF PUBLICATION The requisite affidavit for publication having been filed, notice is hereby given to: Antoni J. Wasowski and Unknown Owners, and Non Record Claimants, Defendants in the above-entitled action, that a Complaint for Foreclosure and Other Relief has been commenced in the Circuit Court of Will County, by said Plaintiff against you and other defendants, praying for the foreclosure of certain mortgages conveying the premises legally described as follows: LOT 6 AND THE NORTH 8.5 FEET OF LOT 7, IN BLOCK 10, IN WASHINGTON HEIGHTS, A SUBDIVISION OF THE NORTH 60 ACRES OF THE EAST HALF OF THE NORTHWEST QUARTER OF SECTION 4, IN TOWNSHIP 35 NORTH AND IN RANGE 10 EAST OF THE THIRD

real estate PRINCIPAL MERIDIAN, ACCORDING TO THE PLAT THEREOF RECORDED JULY 10, 1891 AS DOCUMENT 163696, IN WILL COUNTY, ILLINOIS. P.I.N.: 30-07-04-117-030-0000 COMMON ADDRESS: 1318 Nicholson Street, Joliet, IL 60435 And which mortgages were made by Antoni J. Wasowski, as Mortgagor(s); and given to Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, Inc., as nominee for Amerigroup Mortgage Corporation, a division of Mortgage Investors Corporation as Mortgagee; to wit: that certain “Mortgage” dated (a) 11/14/2003, and recorded as Document No.R2003291563, that Summons was duly issued out of said court against you as provided by law, and that the said Complaint is now pending for foreclosure of said mortgages and for other relief.

CLERK OF THE CIRCUIT COURT Kluever Law Group, LLC 225 West Washington Street Suite 1550 Chicago, IL 60606 (312) 236-0077 courtresults@klueverlawgroup.com Atty. No. 06187248 SMS000326-21FC1 Published 4/14, 4/21, 4/28

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Phone: 815.4246.24241 >> Mon. - Fri. 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. FAX: 815.4249.2415 email: classifieds@enterprisepublications.com IN PERSON: Enterprise Publications >> 2241556 Andrew Rd. >> Plainfield, IL

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