The Pentagon is under fire on Capitol Hill for a plan that critics say could leave thousands of military families whose children suffer from autism without access to the healthcare coverage they need.
 
… The Pentagon reignited the debate over autism coverage for some 26,000 military children — proposing cuts that would be capped at 15 percent a year — in a December meeting with healthcare providers.
 
Republicans and Democrats both lashed out at the Pentagon.
 
In a letter to Defense Secretary Ashton Carter sent this week, Gillibrand, along with Sens. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), and Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) expressed “great concern.”
 
The senators warned the proposed cuts would bring the military’s compensation for healthcare professionals who work with autistic children to 35 percent below the national average.
 
The military currently pays autism professionals a wage of $125 an hour. If the cuts go into effect at the end of the month, that wage would be lowered, and critics say it would result in children losing treatment.
 
As many as 1,500 military children with autism could lose coverage under the proposed cuts, according to a new Navigation Behavioral Consulting survey.

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