The Politics of Autism includes an extensive discussion of insurance and Medicaid services for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
Daniel Chang reports at The Miami Herald:
The Florida Association for Behavior Analysis, a statewide nonprofit that promotes the therapy — which is designed to correct behavioral issues in children with developmental disabilities — said the delays are hurting kids.
“These delays are inexcusable and are causing heartache for so many children and families who desperately need the services provided by qualified behavior analysts,” Nikki Dickens, president of FABA, said in a written statement. “Our state government simply cannot sit back while these vulnerable children suffer as a result of an ineffective and inefficient bureaucratic system.”
In May, AHCA imposed a moratorium on enrollment of new behavior analysis providers in Miami-Dade and Broward, alleging rampant fraud that included therapists falsifying credentials and billing for more hours than there are in a day. The sanctions announced last week are part of that investigation.
But some Miami-Dade providers say AHCA used wrong or outdated information as a reason to suspend their therapists from Medicaid and then forced the provider to repay thousands of dollars.
