N.Y. Gov. Kathy Hochul signs bill mandating that private insurers cover dyslexia testing

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — On Wednesday, Governor Kathy Hochul of New York signed a measure into law mandating that private insurers pay for essential tests used to diagnose dyslexia.

State Senator Brad Hoylman-Sigal (D-Manhattan) and Assemblyman Robert Carroll (D-Brooklyn) sponsored the bill. Lawmakers claim that it is the first of its sort to be passed in the US and was designed to improve early diagnosis of dyslexia and other learning disabilities, such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

Carroll stated that schools usually only provide a limited number of evaluations and that the majority of health insurance companies do not pay for this type of testing. According to him, many families cannot afford the present cost of neuropsychological tests, which can exceed $6,000 and are frequently given over two days.

Carroll, who was given a dyslexia diagnosis in 1993 and admitted that the diagnosis transformed his life, said, “I was lucky as a child that my family had the resources to pay for a neuropsychological exam.” It is unfair that some children still have undetected dyslexia thirty years later because their families cannot afford to pay for a neuropsychological evaluation. This bill was written by me in response to a need that was obviously urgent.

According to studies, up to one in five kids can have dyslexia or another problem with phonemic awareness, the lawmaker stated.

In addition to impeding students’ academic progress, untreated dyslexia and other learning disorders raise the risk of anxiety, depression, suicide, drug abuse, and incarceration; these factors result in higher health care expenses and significant societal costs, Carroll stated when he announced the legislation.

According to Carroll’s announcement, educational research has clearly shown that early detection of dyslexia, combined with intervention and multisensory sequential phonics instruction, significantly improves educational outcomes and reduces the harm caused by dyslexia.

According to Hoylman-Sigal, whose child has dyslexia, parents typically have to pay between $5,000 and $10,000 or more for neuropsychological tests that are necessary to properly diagnose dyslexia.

“No more,” he declared. Governor Hochul signed our nation’s first law today, which mandates that neuropsychological testing be covered by private health insurers. More children in New York will thereby receive the expert assistance they require to acquire reading skills and develop into successful students and contributing members of society.

Now that the law has been signed, the next and most crucial step, legislators said, is to increase screening, which is required before a formal diagnosis is delivered, and often alerts parents of the condition early.

According to the National Center on Improving Literacy, New York is one of just ten states that do not have laws requiring screening.

Screening tests generally cost less than $2 per student and take only 30 minutes to administer, but the city and state have yet to make them widely available, Carroll said. Parents and educators are so frequently left to spot the early warning signs on their own.

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