| New York Gov. Kathy Hochul last week signed legislation to increase funding for Early Intervention services for young children with developmental delays and also pledged a major funding increase for specialized schools serving children with disabilities. The Covered Lives for Early Intervention bill had strong support from education advocates in Rochester and across the state. It creates a $40 million fund to cover Early Intervention claims from providers and forces private insurers, who historically have denied the vast majority of claims, to pay into it. Early Intervention, for children ages 0-3, and pre-kindergarten special education, for 4-year-olds, have been in crisis in Monroe County and elsewhere for years. Parents cannot get their children the services they need, in part because providers are abandoning the field due to low reimbursement rates. |
