Set a national goal to provide re-screening for all 2-year-olds for developmental disorders

Health care reform bills would give big push to medical screening for 2-year-olds

Updated: Tuesday, December 8th, 2009 | By Louis Jacobson

During the presidential campaign, Barack Obama said he would "support setting a national goal to provide re-screening for all 2-year-olds -– the age at which some conditions, including autism spectrum disorders, begin to appear. Part of Obama's early childhood intervention plan will be directed at coordinating fragmented community programs to help provide parents with information about screening for disabilities as infants and again as 2-year-olds."

The administration's major effort in this regard has been to pursue health care reform. Both the House-passed bill and the Senate bill now under consideration would focus efforts on reducing the number of uninsured Americans, which should in turn make it likelier that children get the periodic "well-child" tests and care that they need. The bills would also set minimum coverage standards for health plans, including well-child care.

The bills don't speak specifically about a goal for 2-year-old screenings, but by boosting coverage for parents and children, the legislation -- if it is passed and signed -- would have the effect of advancing this goal. So we consider this promise In the Works.

Sources: Text of H.R. 3962 (version of health care bill passed by the full House)

Text of Senate health care bill (version to be debated on the floor)