No recommendations on autism care as task force completes second meeting

A Florida task force that could recommend a wholesale revamping of services used by some of the state’s needy children spent hours Monday looking at applied behavioral services (ABA) and how and when they are delivered.

The blue-ribbon panel is in the information-gathering mode and has not yet recommended how it plans to bring in spending on the services.

Shena Grantham, Florida’s deputy secretary for Medicaid policy, shared with the panel Monday a breakout of Medicaid ABA funding and where the services are being provided.

Relying on fiscal year 2025-26 claims data Grantham said:

• $1.61 billion was spent on ABA services in the home.
• $620.7 million on ABA services in schools.
• $351.6 million on ABA services in office settings.
• $150.8 million for ABA services in the community.

She told the task force that in Florida the average length of time a recipient receives ABA services is 32.5 months. A breakout of the data shows about 10,000 people have received ABA services for five years or more and about 8,000 people receive ABA services for less than six months.

Applied behavior analysis uses structured interventions to decrease maladaptive behaviors and reinforce appropriate ones. ABA is common in the treatment of children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder. ABA also is used for people with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, traumatic brain injuries, intellectual and developmental disabilities.

The Legislature established the 10-member task force as part of fiscal year 2026-27 budget negotiations. The task force is reviewing revisions of the state’s healthcare delivery model to “improve care experience and service continuity for enrollees and families receiving ABA services, while safeguarding long term program sustainability.”

The group is supposed to have its recommendations finalized for the Florida Legislature by Dec. 31. Agency for Health Care Administration Secretary Shevaun Harris, chair of the panel as well as a non-voting member, suggested the group complete the bulk of its recommendations by the end of October but acknowledged that wasn’t “set in stone.”

The panel is expected to meet again Sept. 16.

In addition to hearing from Grantham, the panel heard from Center for Medicaid and CHIP Services Principal Deputy Director Caprice Knapp; Director of the FSU College of Medicine Autism Institute Amy Wetherby; and Peggy Aune, vice chancellor for strategic improvement for the Division of Public Schools in the Department of Education.

CHIP is the Children’s Health Insurance Program, and income-based health insurance for kids.

Knapp, who spent 10 years of her career at the University of Florida doing Medicaid research for the agency, discussed the recent State Medicaid and CHIP Applied Behavior Analysis Toolkit, published by the Trump administration.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released the 173-page document meant to “support state Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) agencies in making decisions regarding ABA service provision for Medicaid and CHIP.”

The toolkit doesn’t carry the official weight of law or regulation, Knapp said.

“And again, …  these are not binding. States always have the ability to take the information from the toolkit and go forward,” she said.