Committee advances bill removing age-8 diagnosis requirement for autism coverage and extending adult coverage

The Appropriations Committee on Health and Human Services reported favorably on CS for Senate Bill 756, which would remove an insurance-code requirement that limited autism diagnoses to age 8 and would extend coverage mandates beyond the current cutoff at age 18.

Sponsor Senator Burton told the committee that the bill removes the diagnosis-by-age-8 requirement because some autistic children — particularly girls or children with co-occurring medical conditions — are diagnosed later. Burton said the change would allow more families to access covered therapies and supports after age 18.

Committee members asked about lifetime benefit caps. Senator Berman asked about a lifetime benefit cap noted in the bill text referencing a $108,000 total; Burton said the bill does not change existing caps and that expanding eligibility could result in more individuals reaching the cap but does not itself alter the cap amount.

Public testimony included representatives of disability organizations: James McFadden (Arc of Florida) and others waived in support. No opponents were recorded on the committee roster. The clerk then called the roll and reported CS for SB 756 as reported favorably.

Why it matters: sponsors framed the bill as an access and equity measure to ensure autistic Floridians can obtain diagnosis and mandated coverage when symptoms present after childhood, and to reduce disruptions in services tied to an arbitrary age cutoff.

Implementation notes: the committee record did not include new appropriation language; members flagged Medicaid and other caps as a system constraint but did not record changes to those caps in the bill text.