NCAAS members had a long-awaited meeting with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to discuss ways to increase access to ABA for Medicaid beneficiaries under 21 years of age. Members voiced concerns about State Plan Amendments (SPAs) in which a state describes the ABA benefit. Some concerns raised by NCAAS include hour limits; parent/caregiver training requirements; excessive neurological, psychological, and assessment requirements; and lack of progress being used to deny or limit medically necessary treatment. We were gratified to see that the CMS representatives have such a depth of knowledge and to know that their goal is to make sure SPAs don’t include improper requirements such as the ones we described.
That same day, we met with staff from Congressman Pete Stauber’s (R-MN) office to thank him for his help in securing the language in the U.S. House Appropriations Committee Fiscal Year 2020 Labor-HHS-Education funding bill that addresses violations of Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA) in the context of autism treatment. We also met with Congressman Austin Scott (R-GA) who is very supportive of efforts to increase access to autism services and supports and aware of the challenges faced by families in rural counties. Finally, we met with staff from Senator Sinema’s (D-AZ) office in anticipation of seeking Senate support for NCAAS initiatives in 2020.