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LOS ANGELES, CA -- A lawsuit claiming the California Department of Managed Care improperly allowed health insurers to decline payment for autism treatments will proceed to trial after a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge rebuked the state in a preliminary ruling. A Consumer Watchdog representative said regulators should stop denying
coverage on the grounds that ABA providers are certified not by the
state but by a national board. Continuing to do so would risk legal
damages, the advocacy group said in a statement. "The DMHC has to change its practices going forward, and the department
should immediately reverse its previous denials," Pam Pressley,
litigation director for Consumer Watchdog, said in a statement. "Gov.
Schwarzenegger, a long-time and vocal supporter of the Special Olympics
and developmentally disabled children, should require his regulators to
abide by the law."
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