Financial Planning for Autism: Autism Costs
People don’t understand the true costs of dealing with an autistic child. Financial planning for autism takes an understanding of the costs involved which typically fall into two categories; medical and educational. Parents can become overwhelmed as they deal with a raft of financial and planning difficulties.
Medical costs can include any doctor’s bills or medical issues that go along with that particular disorder, in this instance, autism. A kind of behavioral therapy directed at young children called applied-behavior analysis involves up to 40 hours per week of one-on-one work with a trained therapist. Costs for doctor’s visits, prescriptions and occupational and speech therapy also add up. Special education, camps and child care can also be exorbitant. “Direct medical and nonmedical costs can add up to as much as $72,000 a year for someone with an extreme case of the disorder, and even $67,000 a year for those on the lower end of the spectrum, according to a study from Harvard School of Public Health”. Even with the 1990 Individuals With Disabilities Education Act that requires all school districts to provide “free and appropriate” education for children with disabilities, including autism, school districts’ resources are often limited. Unfortunately, what the parents deem as appropriate education often doesn’t match with what the school is willing to provide. One major deficiency is that “many of the treatments for autism straddle a line between medical and educational, giving room for insurance companies and school systems to each claim that it’s not their responsibility –and leave parents footing the bill, or going without treatment.”.
A recent article, “Autism Diagnoses Bring Slew of Costs for Families”, refers to a 2006 study by health economist Michael Ganz, which states that the direct costs to raise a child with autism to age 22 is more than $500,000 and that’s based on 2003 dollars. His study measured autism’s cost to society overall. A more recent study byHarvardUniversity showed that the lifetime costs of treating and caring for a person with autism is nearly $3million.
Another article, “Dealing With the Financial Burden of Autism”, mentions the shortcomings of many health insurance polices that do not cover autism, while those that do often have severe limits. And there is very little government or private financial assistance available. Even with coverage, many parents find themselves having to pay substantially out of pocket to get the behavioral therapies that are so often needed on a weekly basis. Recently the insurance situation is improving. Autism Speaks, an advocacy group, has pushed to get states to pass laws mandating that insurance companies cover autism. Today 25 states have such a law in place.
Resources for parents can vary from state to state and even within a state as does the costs of caring for a child with autism or special needs. More importantly, availability of resources seems to decrease as the child gets older. Parents will need to have a plan of action in place to care for future needs. They should develop a life plan early on that will assure the adult child’s needs are met and understood by future caregivers. Autism financial planning starts with a life plan that will spell out, in detail, the personal needs and preferences of the individual with autism.
About Charles Massimo
Recognized as industry expert and guest speaker at national industry conferences, Charles Massimo is a published author and media subject expert on topics ranging from wealth/asset management to investment and financial planning for high net worth families, families with autistic children and closely-held businesses.