{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.murray.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pattyinnews?ContentRecord_id=4d659f95-2a9c-4c51-b715-2eb97351a86e", "Sen. Murray seeks expansion of behavioral therapy for military families", "2013-11-27", "2013", "2013-11", "Democrat", "House", "WA", "Patty Murray", "M001111", "www.murray.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Adam Ashton \n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\tTwo of Miranda Fort\u2019s three children have different developmental disabilities that affect the way they relate to the world.\r\nTo help them, doctors recommended both try behavioral therapy that would teach them social and coping skills.\r\nYet that treatment, known as applied behavioral analysis, is covered for only one of the two children under the Navy family\u2019s Tricare health insurance. The other daughter, Josie, can\u2019t get the therapy because she has not been diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, the condition for which Tricare offers the treatment.\r\n\u201cWe wait until all children that need the therapy have access to it,\u201d said Fort, of Silverdale.\r\nHer family is working to make that goal happen as fast as possible by getting behind a proposal from U.S. Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., that would compel the insurance agency to expand its offerings for behavioral therapy. The Forts joined Murray on Tuesday at a Seattle press conference to promote the effort.\r\nMurray has submitted an amendment to the annual defense budget that would force the change, costing about $60 million a year.\r\n\u201cThat\u2019s a drop in the bucket\u201d for the Pentagon\u2019s $527 billion spending plan,\u201d the senator argues.\r\nHer proposal is moving forward at a moment when the Defense Department is trying to stay on top of a rapidly changing budget picture. It stands to lose about $50 billion next year if Congress fails to stop the forced federal spending cuts known as sequestration.\r\nAgainst that backdrop, the White House last week urged Congress to raise certain Tricare fees for military retirees and to rein in the system\u2019s costs over the next five years. Health care spending last year cost the Pentagon more than $50 billion.\r\nYet Murray is gathering considerable support for the benefits expansion from families who say it\u2019s an important incentive to retain capable service members.\r\n\u201cWhen we recruit people, we recruit individuals, but we retain families,\u201d said retired Army Col. Dave Slotwinski, president of the Military Officers Association of America\u2019s Washington state chapter. The organization is backing Murray\u2019s proposal.\r\nIn recent years, Murray has used the annual defense spending bill to advance reforms that usually focus on the health of troops and their families.\r\nIn 2010 and 2012, she put forward successful amendments to the defense spending bill that expanded military mental health resources. In 2011, the final defense spending bill carried a Murray proposal that nudged the Pentagon to use more biofuels.\r\nThis year, she\u2019s working on other amendments to the defense bill that would allow sex assault victims advocates to appear before military courts and require the Defense Department to conduct a study on the advancement of women in the ranks.\r\nThe Senate last week debated the overall spending bill, but left for a holiday recess without passing it.\r\nMurray said her colleagues should pass the Tricare reforms because deployed military service members deserve to know their families are being taken care of while they\u2019re overseas.\r\n\u201cDenying these kids this kind of care is absolutely unacceptable,\u201d she said.\r\nMiranda Fort has a busy house when her husband, Petty Officer 1st Class Quinten Fort, deploys on Puget Sound-based submarines. Her house is full with daughters Hailey, 7, and Josie, 5, as well as son Teagan, 3.\r\nTeagan has about 18 hours of therapy each week for his autism. It works, Miranda says. For example, he used to have trouble in the grocery store when sprinklers turned on in the produce section. The sound startled him, and the family had to leave the store.\r\nWith therapy, Teagan has learned to cope with the sprinklers by cupping his ears. His mom has seen other positive changes, too.\r\nJosie has a different condition in which her brain tissue stretches down into her spinal cord. It makes her impulsive, and she struggles with her memory.\r\n\u201cDaily tasks become impossible,\u201d Miranda Fort said.\r\nJosie gets about one hour of therapy a week. Doing more would require the family to pay out-of-pocket expenses they can\u2019t afford on an enlisted sailor\u2019s salary.\r\nMom wants behavioral therapy for Josie, in accordance with her doctor\u2019s recommendation.\r\n\u201cThey could help her create a system\u201d to live with her disability, Miranda Fort said.\r\n- The News Tribune\r\n  Read more here: http://www.thenewstribune.com/2013/11/27/2916795/murray-seeks-expansion-of-behavorial.html#storylink=cpy", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.murray.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pattyinnews?ContentRecord_id=4d659f95-2a9c-4c51-b715-2eb97351a86e"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.4353729784488678, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}