Updated 7/11/2013
Attention All Parents:
Join our efforts in stopping TRICARE from restricting your child’s therapy!
TRICARE has proposed major policies that are projected to have serious negative impacts on the therapy your child receives. Signing petitions and voicing your concerns has worked in the past with TRICARE funding and policy changes and it can work now too! Please find links below to all the resources regarding these changes. You should have all received a letter and an explanation from your clinical director. If you have any questions or further information, please share immediately with your director. Thank you for your continued support and involvement in your child’s therapy!
Take Action Now!
Use this call/email script when contacting legislators and advocacy groups:
“I am writing/calling as your constituent to ask that you take a stand against TRICARE, as they want to limit the access to military kids with developmental disabilities to the treatments they deserve. TRICARE is misrepresenting the BACB (Behavior Analyst Certification Board) guidelines and falsely presenting the new proposed changes as an opportunity to increase access to services. ABA (Applied Behavior Analysis) is widely accepted throughout the medical community as an effective treatment for autism and the BACB has publicly expressed their support for Board Certified Assistant Behavior Analysts to provide supervision to ABA tutors (www.bacb.com).
Not only is TRICARE making it nearly impossible to receive quality supervision of my child’s treatment, but they are also making it nearly impossible to get reauthorization for services! Waitlists in our area for diagnosing doctors are well over six months (with some over a year), but TRICARE is requiring re-assessments every 6 months and annually! Additionally alarming is that the tests required for these re-assessments are being used to measure my child’s progress when these tests are not even validated for that purpose!
My child makes tremendous progress with their ABA therapy and these policy changes will have a detrimental effect on my child’s treatment. Your leadership on behalf of our military children is needed!”
Contacts:
- Step 1: Share this information with your family, friends and support groups.
- Step 2: Contact your local EFMP and get the answers and advocacy you deserve from this program!
- Step 3: Contact your local government officials.
Georgia Senator – Johnny Isakson, 770-661-0999, Click here for email
Georgia Senator – Saxby Chambliss, 478-741-1417, Click here for email
Georgia Congressman – Jack Kingston, 912-265-9010, Click here for email
Georgia Congressman – John Barrow, 706-722-4494, Click here for email
Florida Senator, Jacksonville – Marco Rubio, 904-398-8586, Click here for email
Florida Senator – Bill Nelson, Click here for email
Florida Congressman – Ander Crenshaw, 904-598-0481, Click here for email
Florida Congressman – Ted Yoho, 904-276-9626, Click here for email
Contacting government officials works! Click here to read a letter sent to TRICARE from two senators!
- Step 4: Contact other advocacy groups.
Autism Speaks -Judith Ursitti, CPA, Director State Government Affairs, 508-785-4074 judith.ursitti@autismspeaks.org
- Step 5: Sign this petition: Click here.
- Step 6: Follow the Reaching Milestones Facebook page for up-to-date information: Click here.
Information to Review:
- Letter to parents from Reaching Milestones regarding changes for active duty family members: Click here.
- Letter to parents from Reaching Milestones regarding changes for non-active duty family members: Click here.
- Acronym Glossary: Click here.
- Tricare Policy Manuals regarding changes: Click here.
- FAQ released by Tricare: Click here.
- FAQ released by Autism Speaks: Click here.
- FAQ released by Military Special Needs Network: Click here.
- New group organized to communicate and help interpret the policy changes: Click here.