The National Coalition for Access to Autism Services (NCAAS) supports the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services guidance to maintain continuity of care for Medicaid enrollees as Medicaid continuous coverage comes to end and urges states to provide guidance to state agencies to prevent disruptions to ongoing treatment. Continuing to advocate for access to quality autism services for the children and families that need it, NCAAS recognizes that the end of continuous Medicaid coverage may disrupt care for thousands of children if states fail to provide proper guidance.
As states recommence eligibility determinations of their Medicaid enrollees beginning April 1st, federal researchers estimate that as much as 73.6% of children who are disenrolled from Medicaid will in fact be eligible.[1] This could disproportionately affect children with autism, given the clinical significance of continuous care and early intervention. If families temporarily lose coverage due to changes in eligibility or delays in the reapplication processes, their short- and long-term clinical outcomes are significantly threatened. Treatment based on applied behavior analysis (ABA) is most effective when delivered consistently, and any temporary disenrollment in services could potentially last months as most providers face a persistent shortage of behavior analysts and paraprofessional behavior technicians, which can lead to long waitlists for treatment. Even in states where children will automatically be enrolled in the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) or state Marketplace plans, state guidance is needed to ensure children with autism can stay with their current ABA provider. Otherwise, children will experience disruptions in continuity of care, which may cause irreparable harm.
Please help our community spread this message on behalf of NCAAS as we continue to advocate for critical continuous access to mental health services for individuals with autism.
To learn more about specific states and their Medicaid unwinding plan or summary visit Georgetown University Health Policy Institute Tracker here.
[1] Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE), “Unwinding the Medicaid Continuous Enrollment Provision: Projected Enrollment Effects and Policy Approaches” (Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, August 2022), available at https://aspe.hhs.gov/reports/unwinding-medicaid-continuous-enrollment-provision