The Virginia House of Delegates voted, 74-24, to require insurers to provide autism coverage for children ages 2-6, signaling what could be the end of a long fight for autism coverage in the state.

This week Senator Janet Howell sponsored an identical bill that unanimously passed in the Senate Committee process and is currently awaiting a vote on the Senate floor next week. Attempts to pass a similar bill, which would have covered developmental delays, date back to 2000 with the Senate Bill 165. Broader legislation has also failed in 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009 and 2010.

"For years, families of children with autism have been caught in an endless struggle with insurance companies for coverage of autism treatments and therapies," says Pat DiBari, president of the Virginia Autism Project."Thanks to this historic vote, Virginia families are one step closer to receiving the coverage they so vitally need."