Families Send Letter Urging Holcomb to Stop Medicaid Cuts Threatening Kids’ Autism Services

“Governor Holcomb is our last hope for stopping cuts, saving my family, and protecting access to the services my child relies on.”

INDIANAPOLIS, IN — This week, the Indiana Family and Social Service Administration’s Office of Medicaid Policy and Planning (OMPP) announced a proposal to significantly cut Medicaid reimbursement rates for Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) therapy. These steep cuts could force ABA centers to close and strip vital services from thousands of Hoosier children with autism.

Today, in response to OMPP’s announcement, families and advocates sent a letter to Governor Holcomb imploring him to stop his administration’s proposal that would cut Medicaid funding for the most common form of ABA therapy by nearly half.

In their letter, families express fears that OMPP’s proposed rates would force ABA centers to close across the state. “We worry that our ABA centers will be forced to close, and our children will lose access to the care they need. This would devastate families like ours who rely on ABA therapy and leave us nowhere to turn.”

The letter also emphasizes the important role that ABA therapy centers play in families’ daily lives “For many of us, our child’s ABA therapy center is a safe haven – the one place we can comfortably drop off our kids, knowing they will be safe, understood, and taught life-long skills to help them live fulfilled, independent lives.”
 
Marion mom Angie Schlueter, for example, credits ABA therapy with changing her son’s life forever. She said she signed the letter because she believes “Governor Holcomb is our last hope for stopping cuts, saving my family, and protecting access to the services my child relies on.”

Angie also explained that Governor Holcomb’s track record of supporting Hoosier Families gave her hope that he would step in to protect children against center closures. “It seems like Governor Holcomb is the only one who can stop these big rate cuts. I’m scared of what will happen if the Governor doesn’t step in, and I know the other families involved with my non-profit, All Along the Spectrum, are scared as well.”     

OMPP has proposed an hourly reimbursement rate of $55.16 per hour for ABA therapy provided by a Registered Behavioral Technician (RBT), which represents a huge reduction of 45% to current reimbursement rates. This rate is also nearly 20% below OMPP’s own provider cost survey results which aggregated the total cost for providers to operate across the state.

Many ABA therapy centers have said they would not be able to survive at a $55.16 per hour reimbursement rate and would have to shut down or stop accepting families who rely on Medicaid to cover this essential therapy.

The families’ letter to Governor Holcomb addresses these concerns. Stating that OMPP’s proposed rate cuts would “create a system where Hoosier families with private insurance receive superior services to families on Medicaid.”

In the letter’s conclusion, families ask Governor Holcomb to reconsider cuts and “adopt a financially sustainable rate that keeps ABA centers open, therapists employed, and our children in ABA therapy.”

The families explain how the Governor’s decision will forever impact their children’s lives, “There is a small window of time early in life when ABA therapy is most effective. If our children lose access to center-based ABA therapy, they will never recover the time – and progress – lost.”

Full Text of the Letter below:
 
Dear Governor Holcomb,

We call on you to please step in to stop your administration’s proposed significant cuts to Medicaid for Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA) therapy for children with autism. We have heard that the proposed rate is below what it costs ABA centers to provide high-quality care to our children.

If your Office of Medicaid Policy and Planning (OMPP) moves forward with the proposed rate reduction, we worry that our ABA centers will be forced to close, and our children will lose access to the care they need. This would devastate families like ours who rely on ABA therapy and leave us nowhere to turn.

We cannot overstate how important ABA therapy is to our children and our families and how detrimental it would be if our ABA therapy centers close or stop accepting new patients that rely on Medicaid. For many of us, our child’s ABA therapy center is a safe haven – the one place we can comfortably drop off our kids, knowing they will be safe, understood, and taught life-long skills to help them live fulfilled, independent lives.

If our ABA therapy centers close, our kids would be forced into two options: lose access to ABA therapy services and be shifted into a public-school environment that is unprepared to provide the services they need or stay at home all day and receive ABA therapy at home, which doesn’t achieve the same outcomes for many kids.

Neither option can work for our families.

Many of us tried to put our children in public schools, but they simply are not equipped to give our children the care they need. What’s more, ABA center closures will simply shift the burden of care to Indiana’s schools which don’t have the resources or the trained staff to suddenly, mid-year, provide tailored care and special services that our children need.

ABA therapy at home is also not feasible for many families or our children. For one, it requires parents to stay home all day with our children, impacting employment. This imposes an enormous financial burden on families that depend on Medicaid and already face personal and economic strain – especially single-parent households.

Secondly, ABA centers have been vital to our child’s progress as centers provide intensive therapy in structured settings and increased peer interactions that make a critical difference in preparing them for a transition to school. The same level of care and progress is unlikely if our children are forced to have ABA therapy at home. A change to at home ABA therapy only in Indiana is terrifying for parents like us who rely on this care every day to improve our children’s lives and provide a safe, enriching environment for them while we’re at work.

Governor Holcomb, as you can see, OMPP’s proposed reimbursement cut will lead to disastrous consequences for children with autism and create a system where Hoosier families with private insurance receive superior services to families on Medicaid. There is a small window of time early in life when ABA therapy is most effective. If our children lose access to center-based ABA therapy, they will never recover the time – and progress – lost.

We ask you please to reconsider these cuts and adopt a financially sustainable rate that keeps ABA centers open, therapists employed, and our children in ABA therapy.

Thank you,