Valereigh’s Voice - End the Limitations Proposed on ABA Services!!

As both a special needs parent and a proud Hoosier, I am heartbroken to have to write this. With a new bill proposed, ABA Services would now be limited, hours reduced and a 3 year limit for each child. Meaning after 3 years, sorry, no services. Services that are CRUCIAL in my daughter's every day life. And the worst part is… she doesn’t even get a say or have the ability to ask what I’m asking of you at this very moment. Which is to NOT PASS THIS BILL. 

This therapy isn’t just a service being provided to these children. These changes will be extremely harmful to some of our most vulnerable Indiana children. ABA is a critical, evidence based treatment for individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Loss of access to such a life-changing treatment would be devastating to their future and would have negative ripple effects throughout our whole community for years to come.

The newly proposed weekly time caps, lifetime limits, and other requirements are not based on medical data or best practices and would undermine the effectiveness of this treatment. Children should not be penalized or denied service because their disability prevented them from developing these skills faster.

Medicaid's proposals are in direct violation of established policies: the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA) and the CMS requirements for Early and Periodic Screening, Diagnostic and Treatment (EPSDT). CMS recognizes that a treatment does not need to "cure" a condition in order to be considered successful or medically necessary.

ABA is helping children to flourish by providing them with the skills and tools they need to navigate life. But learning to use tools takes time, often more than 3 years and 30-hours per week of services. I find it horrifying that a child might lose access to this treatment because they are not progressing as quickly as the Medicaid budget would like. I find it appalling that Medicaid wants to enact rigid limits on a service that treats such an incredibly wide spectrum of symptoms.