The Politics of Autism includes an extensive discussion of insurance and Medicaid services for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
[B]ehavior analysts in Kansas can’t keep up with demand. A big reason, they say, is the state’s privatized Medicaid program, KanCare. Reimbursements are too slow — and too low.
One well-established mental health center recently decided to add ABA therapy to its services, but for now, at least, won’t be accepting Medicaid for that program.
“The state of Kansas’ hourly reimbursement rate doesn’t even cover the time and costs,” said a spokeswoman for the Family Service and Guidance Center in Topeka. “The KanCare rate pays about 50 percent.”
Even the process of getting credentials from KanCare’s three contractors can take months for each therapist. In the meantime, applicants for those jobs sometimes disappear.
“We have about 75 employees in our agency at any one time,” said Katrina Ostmeyer, associate executive director at Integrated Behavioral Technologies. “Ideally, if we’re fully staffed, we should have about 120.”
IBT, which serves large parts of Kansas, currently serves about 60 children. It has about 150 on its waitlist for behavior analysis. Most are enrolled in KanCare, which insures children based on family income and level of need.
It can take a long time for slots to open up because therapy for a single child can take multiple years.
