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Biden administration moves to protect Alaska wilderness; opening statements and first witness in NY trial; SCOTUS hears Starbucks case, with implications for unions on the line; rural North Carolina town gets pathway to home ownership.

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The Supreme Court weighs cities ability to manage a growing homelessness crisis, anti-Israeli protests spread to college campuses nationwide, and more states consider legislation to ban firearms at voting sites and ballot drop boxes.

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Wyoming needs more educators who can teach kids trade skills, a proposal to open 40-thousand acres of an Ohio forest to fracking has environmental advocates alarmed and rural communities lure bicyclists with state-of-the-art bike trail systems.

New Services at Risk for More than 1,800 NV Children with Autism

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Wednesday, October 7, 2015   

LAS VEGAS - Intensive early intervention is considered to be key for effective treatment of autism, and it looked as if Nevada was going to reach out to thousands more children with new treatment - but advocates say that effort has stalled.

Autism Community Trust Inc. executive director Julie Ostrovsky, who has a son with autism, was happy to see Gov. Brian Sandoval work with lawmakers to approve a measure this year that authorized Nevada Medicaid to pay for applied behavior analysis, the best treatment available. Now, she said, few low-income children are going to get the treatment because of painfully low Medicaid reimbursement rates.

"It was really good news, but they didn't build in how much they would pay," she said. "The Medicaid rate would not even allow the providers to provide those services to low-income clients."

More than 1,800 low-income children are in need of the services of registered behavioral technicians, but providers say they need to be reimbursed at least $40 an hour, rather than the $29.50 per hour that has been proposed.

Ostrovsky said she was fortunate to be able to obtain these services for her son, Mitchell, when he was diagnosed with autism at age 3. She said he is now 17 and making great strides.

"He still does not speak, but he understands and he signs, and he's in vocational programs," she said, "but the behaviors have become a non-issue, the learning-to-learn has become a non-issue - and it's because of this intervention."

Charles Marriot, founder and owner of Autism Care West in Las Vegas, said he wants to provide these services, but would lose money at the reimbursement rate that Nevada Medicaid proposed at a public hearing in October. He said the other providers in the state are in the same boat.

"So, they've approved funding for an evidence-based service for a medically necessary condition, however they haven't set reimbursement rates at a level that will allow the treatment to actually be delivered," he said. "So, the whole program is pointless at the current reimbursement rate."


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