Lorri Unumb selected for National Jefferson AwardsAdvocate to represent all Post and Courier nominees By Jessica Johnson (Contact)
The Post and Courier
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
Attorney Lorri Unumb led a grassroots effort to change a state law to secure medical insurance coverage for a proven autism treatment. Unumb and other parents of autistic children won their two-year battle with the passage of Ryan's Law last year, and Unumb was nominated for The Post and Courier's Jefferson Award for public service. 
Wade Spees Lorri Unumb holds sons Ryan, then 6, and Jonathan in October 2007. Unumb credits early intervention for helping Ryan, who has autism, develop social skills. Last week, Unumb of Mount Pleasant learned that Jefferson Awards for Public Service Board of Selectors chose her to represent the newspaper in June at the National Jefferson Awards Ceremony held in Washington. Unumb, now assistant director of the National Advocacy Center of the Department of Justice based in Columbia, said she is humbled to represent such a terrific group of volunteers. "I feel incredibly honored on behalf of all the families who helped in this effort to get insurance coverage for kids with autism," Unumb said. A former Charleston School of Law professor, Unumb was one of six area finalists narrowed from a pool of 54 Jefferson Award for public service nominees featured in Post and Courier articles last year. Before Ryan's Law, named for Unumb's autistic son, state-regulated insurance companies refused to cover autism spectrum disorders, even though studies show that an expensive therapy called applied behavior analysis does work. Ryan's Law sought coverage for the intensive behavior therapy that can cost $50,000 to $75,000 a year. On TVThe Post and Courier Jefferson Award recipient Lorri Unumb and her family will be featured in CNN coverage Wednesday as part of the network's spotlight on autistic disorder for United Nations World Autism Awareness Day. Unumb's story is expected to air several times throughout the day. Unumb's husband, Dan, a Charleston attorney, said his wife used her leadership and teaching skills to encourage the bill's passage. "She brought ordinary people together to do something extraordinary," he said. Lately, Lorri Unumb has been working closely with Autism Speaks, a national organization based in New York, to help other states replicate Ryan's Law. Though the bill was named for Unumb's now-7-year-old son, its passage did not guarantee insurance coverage for Ryan because federal and self-funded plans are not subject to state regulation. Ryan's Law, unanimously approved by the S.C. House and Senate, is scheduled to go into effect in July. However, insurance companies have raised questions about requiring the same coverage for South Carolinians whose insurance contracts are issued by another state. Now Unumb hopes to sort through that legal tangle, avoiding a court battle. "There were a lot of families who helped in this effort, moms and dads, including my husband," Unumb said. "I couldn't have done it without his support. I'm honored to accept on behalf of all of those families." Eat for Autism A number of local restaurants are taking part today in a fundraiser called Eat for Autism. Proceeds go toward Surfers Healing, a group that exposes autistic children and their families to surfing. Chai's, Fez, J'Paulz, Jason's Deli, Yo Burrito, Mondo's Delite, Rosebank Farms, Taco Boy and Fat Hen are all contributing 10 percent of their revenue during dinner hours. Surfers Healing plans to hold its camp Aug. 12 near the Washout at Folly Beach. |
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Comments
This article has 3 comment(s)
Posted by rollo on April 1, 2008 at 11:04 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Wonderful, so now the insurance rates for everyone in SC go up to cover another ailment most of them have never pressed a claim against!!
And a lawyer got an award for screwing us! Isn't that SPECIAL!!!
Feel good stories always touch me, right in the wallet.
Posted by luluhowle on April 2, 2008 at 10:08 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Rollo, If you really want to feel screwed and have more money taken out of your wallet, lets do absolutely nothing for these kids. Forget the few dollars more it will cost you per month, less than 1% according to the insurance industry itself, to give these children the chance to begin first grade in a regular classroom with their peers reducing the amount schools have to spend on special education. Just forget the few more dollars you take out of your wallet to provide the needed therapies that will give these kids the chance to become tax paying members of society themselves! So, if we let you keep your selfish few dollars and do nothing, you end up paying hundreds more dollars in taxes instead to house these individuals at a cost of over $4 million per person for the rest of their lives in institutions just because you are so concerned about your few dollars. There are 28,000 individuals with autism in SC now, you do the math. I too pay insurance premiums and I too have a child with autism. Parents go bankrupt in order to pay for these therapies. How does that help the economy? I have spent tens of thousands of dollars myself for these therapies that I could have spent on buying the products or services that you yourself offer. I have seen the importance and benefit of these therapies and have seen my son return to our world from the world of his own. Lorri Unumb deserves more than this award and she has righted an injustice that she herself will not benefit from! I'd call you an idiot but I pity you instead!
Posted by cecelia on April 2, 2008 at 11:24 p.m. (Suggest removal)
In life, as adults, most of us have choices. We choose to drink, become alcoholics, need liver transplants, and expect insurance to pay for the rehab and transplant. We eat poor diets, become obese, and expect insurance to pay for the hospitalizations and medications for the resulting hypertension and obesity related illnesses. We smoke, and expect insurance to pay for our chemo for lung cancer. And the list goes on. I didn't smoke, drink, or do drugs during my pregnacy, or ever, for that matter. Went to the doctor for every appointment. PAID MY INSURANCE PREMIUMS, and deductables. Breastfed, provided a loving home and family for my child, who was diagnosed with autism before his second birthday. So, Rollo, why don't we just save everyone a lot of money. No coverage for adults whose bad habbits lead to their health problems, they pay out of pocket. Instead, let's give healthcare coverage only to people who have lead good clean lives and are sick or have sick children anyway. Bet it would cost less, and save you a bundle on premiums! Unless, of course, you smoke, drink, or eat fast food regularly, then I guess you'd be out of luck. Lorri is amazing, kudos to her for standing up for those who literallly can't speak for themselves.