Florida AHCA Sets $1 Budget Placeholder for ABA Task Force Plan
Florida's Agency for Health Care Administration included a $1 placeholder in its legislative budget request to fund "contracted services" supporting final recommendations from the state's Applied Behavior Analysis Task Force. The placeholder is listed as a recurring general revenue expense in the Health Care Regulation section, meaning AHCA wants it annually appropriated unless the Legislature removes it. About 60,000 low-income children in Florida receive ABA therapy at a cost of roughly $2.3 billion, according to the state's deputy secretary for Medicaid policy and quality, and rising costs along with a policy shift requiring contracted managed care plans to cover ABA prompted the Legislature to create the 10-member task force. The task force must report to the Legislature and governor by year's end on topics including clinical care models, service limits, caps on duration of care, and Medicaid provider enrollment standards; it meets November 17 to vote on recommendations.