Georgia foster children's autism therapy at risk: lawmaker and families demand reversal of 30% reimbursement cut

A funding fight over autism therapy for foster children in the US state of Georgia is escalating at the state Capitol. A Republican lawmaker and affected families are jointly calling for a decision to cut reimbursement rates by 30 per cent to be reversed. Advocates warn that if the cut stands, many children could lose hard-earned progress.

At the centre of the dispute is applied behavior analysis (ABA) therapy. Through Amerigroup, which administers Medicaid coverage for children in Georgia's foster care system, reductions in reimbursement rates for some of those services took effect on September 1.

State Senator Brian Strickland, a Republican from McDonough, joined parents and providers at the Capitol on Thursday to demand action. Strickland, who is running for state attorney general, also pledged to hold companies accountable if elected.

As a parent of a child with autism himself, Strickland said he knows what ABA therapy means for a family, and described the cuts affecting Georgia's foster children as indefensible. That, he said, was why he stood at the Capitol to make the point clear.

The political pushback follows earlier reporting in which autism advocates feared the reduction could force providers to stop treating foster children, as an unintended consequence of the Trump administration's Medicaid fraud crackdown.

Taylor Sanders of the Autism Families Alliance said families and clinicians have increasingly begun speaking out since the cuts took effect, emphasising that time is crucial for these families. Every moment a child is not receiving services, she said, can bring regression in communication and safety skills and possibly an increase in some challenging behaviours.

Sanders had previously warned that as many as 75 per cent of clinics could close or stop serving foster children because of the cuts. That fear is now at the centre of the debate.

She described a family whose three-year-old child had begun using words for the first time after receiving ABA therapy, and whose mother now fears losing access to treatment. Sanders said the mother was in absolute tears during a recent conversation, and was deeply worried and frustrated.

Sanders explained that the child had not received enough therapy to ensure those newly learned communication skills could be maintained across different settings. The mother believes the consistent one-on-one therapy helped the child begin communicating.

Kelsey Bennett of the Autism Families Alliance said that for these children and families, every day matters. Every day without critical care risks reversing hard-earned progress and limiting opportunities for continued development.

Advocates are calling not only for the cuts to be reconsidered, but also for families, clinicians and other stakeholders to be involved in reviewing the policy, rather than relying on a blanket approach.

Amerigroup, in a statement, said it had rebalanced ABA reimbursement rates based on service complexity and clinical expertise, increasing rates for treatment planning and caregiver-engagement services while decreasing rates for some technician-delivered services. The company said rates for licensed clinicians did not decrease and that medically necessary autism services remain covered.

In response, Sanders emphasised that the reductions affected technicians who provide much of the one-on-one care. She said putting something down on paper does not mean it will be clinically effective, and that companies may have to close their doors to these children because they cannot afford the rate cut. Progress lost is extremely hard to come back from, she warned, urging decision-makers to involve clinicians and families before making major cuts.