Medicaid Funding Changes Will Impact ASD Providers

WTWO Channel 2 recently featured a meeting at Harsha Autism Center in Terre Haute with Lieutenant Governor Suzanne Crouch, Indiana State Senator Jon Ford, other state leaders, and Mel Kirchner, the Director of Harsha Autism Center.

Lieutenant Governor Crouch is the chair of the Intellectual and Developmental Disability Task Force. The Task Force was established by House Enrolled Act 1102 during the 2017 session of the Indiana General Assembly. Goals of the Task Force include providing information about existing services, identifying gaps in services, and proposing services that will enable people with disabilities, including autism, become more independent.

Mel Kirchner discussed with state leaders how applied behavioral analysis (ABA) helps children with ASD, but expressed concerns about the impact of potential changes to Medicaid reimbursement rates. Centers such as Harsha already have children on their waiting lists, and Medicaid rate decreases will impact their ability to provide ABA services and even hire enough staff to meet the demand.

Almost half of the children in the United States with special health care needs are covered by Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP). However, the Medicaid continuous enrollment provision that was implemented because of Covid is ending on March 31, 2023, with a phase-down of enhanced federal matching funds. These changes will impact millions of current Medicaid participants, managed care plans, and providers such as Harsha.

See the television interview with Mel Kirchner here.