Two bills. Your own legislators. A few minutes.
Send a personal letter to your State Senator and Assemblymember asking them to support S10208 and A9659-A.
Understanding the illness
What are PANS and PANDAS?
PANS is an autoimmune inflammatory disease of the brain, triggered by infections.
Pediatric Acute-onset Neuropsychiatric Syndrome
The broader diagnosis. Strep can trigger it, and so can other infections.
Pediatric Autoimmune Neuropsychiatric Disorders Associated with Streptococcal infections
The form first identified, in children who had strep infections.
How it happens
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Step 1
An infection
A child catches something common, like strep, Epstein-Barr, Lyme or mycoplasma.
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Step 2
The immune system misfires
Instead of only fighting the infection, the body’s response causes inflammation in the brain.
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Step 3
A sudden change
Psychiatric symptoms appear, often seemingly overnight, in a child who was fine before.
What families see
Children with PANS/PANDAS might suddenly exhibit psychiatric symptoms, often acting out in ways that seem drastically out of character.
- OCD
- Anxiety
- ADHD
- Extreme mood swings
- Severe depression
- Suicidality
Why the right treatment matters
Symptoms may not respond to typical psychiatric medications and therapies. But when infections are treated and the immune system is properly managed, some children even recover completely.
Share Your Story
Create a video we can use in our materials, or send it to your legislators.
Up to 90 seconds on your phone. Prefer to write? The form takes that too.
Who We Are
What We Do
We support families in their journey towards appropriate diagnoses and healing.
We are asking New York State to mandate that insurance companies cover the costs of treatment.
We have submitted a bill that we hope will be voted on and passed in 2027.
The Case for Coverage
Why Insurance?
New York is behind. Seventeen other states have already taken steps to ensure better access to coverage for treatment of PANS and PANDAS.
The Time Has Come
Studies at institutions including Columbia, Stanford, Yale, Harvard, and Johns Hopkins are broadening understanding of the disease and bringing new ideas for treatment. But that hasn’t led most insurance companies to change their policies. Only one, Aetna, has opted to cover our children nationwide, without being forced to by a state law.
States that have passed mandates
- Arkansas
- California
- Colorado
- Connecticut
- Delaware
- Georgia
- Illinois
- Indiana
- Kansas (state employees only)
- Louisiana
- Maryland
- Massachusetts
- Minnesota
- New Hampshire
- Oregon
- Rhode Island
- Virginia
Our Supporters
Organizations Supporting Our Bills
