CD&V is in complete disagreement with Vandenbroucke on the file regarding reimbursement for speech therapy for children with autism | local

According to MP Nawal Freih, the minister is delaying the implementation of the 2019 law, which was supposed to correct the injustice. In the plenary session this evening, a mixed majority appeared in favor of an amendment put forward by Les Engagés MP Catherine Funk, but in the end it did not get that far.

For children with autism, an IQ below 86 or a language development disorder, there has been no reimbursement for individual sessions with a speech therapist since 1996. A law was previously passed in 2019 to correct this, but no executive decision has yet been issued. This requires a study by the Healthcare Knowledge Center (KCE), but that has not yet been done. According to Funk and Freeh, it is up to Vandenbroucke to get things started, but he is running late.

“Horrible,” Freeh says. “Parents cannot have been abandoned for almost thirty years due to outdated legislation.” Reimbursement is available for multidisciplinary consultations with speech therapy, but they suffer from long waiting lists, says CD&V MP.

On the agenda of the House of Representatives this evening was a draft law that includes various health provisions. Funk introduced an amendment to rectify the situation and could count on the support of the entire opposition. This put pressure on CD&V and MR, who had shortly before posed important questions about the file to Vandenbroucke during question time.

A periodic majority seemed within reach, but in the end it did not reach that point. After consulting with party leaders, Vandenbroucke defused the situation by promising to submit a memorandum containing possible solutions to the file within six weeks. The opposition found this proposal laughable, because the House of Representatives was dissolved to hold elections after only a few weeks. Angry N-VA faction leader Peter De Roover said: “Who is the minister actually taking us to?”

Caroline Taquin (Mr) eventually promised to introduce her bill by the next plenary session, in two weeks. If the opposition supports this proposal, it is possible to find a solution in this legislature.