AB 789

Under current law, health insurance policies and self-insured governmental

and school district health plans are required to cover a specified amount of

intensive-level services and nonintensive-level services provided to an insured for

the treatment of autism, Asperger's syndrome, and pervasive developmental

disorder not otherwise specified as long as the treatment is prescribed by a physician

and provided by any of the following providers who are qualified to provide

intensive-level services or nonintensive-level services: a psychiatrist; a

psychologist; a social worker who is certified or licensed to practice psychotherapy;

a paraprofessional working under the supervision of any of those three types of

providers; a professional working under the supervision of an outpatient mental

health clinic; a speech-language pathologist; or an occupational therapist. This bill

provides that the coverage must also apply to services provided by a behavior

analyst, excluding an assistant behavior analyst, who is certified to practice

behavior analysis by the Behavior Analyst Certification Board, Inc., or by a

paraprofessional working under the supervision of such a behavior analyst, if the

behavior analyst or paraprofessional is qualified to provide intensive-level services

or nonintensive-level services.