Using Data to Advocate for ABA Services: I'm talking coverage, rates, prior auths, the works. belongs in serious BCBA study because it shapes whether behavior-analytic decisions stay useful once they leave a clean training example and enter clinical documentation, payer communication, supervision records, and leadership review.
Provider: BehaviorLive — via Verbal Beginnings
Take This Course →Including ethics, supervision, and topics like this one. New live CEU every Wednesday.
Join Free →In 2007 my daughter Ava was diagnosed with Autism. Immediately following the prescription for ABA we learned ABA was not covered by insurance or Medicaid in Georgia. We paid privately for ABA and started seeing remarkable changes in Ava who was diagnosed with severe autism by 3 different diagnosticians. In 2009, I started working with families on legislation to cover ABA and other services for the diagnosis of autism. A grueling 6 yrs later we passed Ava's Law and in 2018 obtained Medicaid coverage. The ongoing struggle to pass legislation was the lack current data to counteract the data that insurance companies and other anti ABA advocates where sharing. Thankfully I was a parent and Ava's progress was not reputable. The presentation will dive into the National Autism Data Registry: what the registry is collecting, how providers can use the data, and the importance of benchmarking data for ongoing advocacy. The fight for autistic individuals and their families is ongoing and we need more leaders who are not in it for themselves and want to continue to advocate for support and inclusion for the whole lifespan of autistic individuals.
| Certification Body | Credits | Type |
|---|---|---|
| BACB® | 0 | — |
| COA | 1 | — |
Anna founded Alinea where she currently provides consulting services to autism and behavioral health providers. Previously, Anna served as the Vice President of Strategy and Development for the Behavioral Health Center of Excellence (BHCOE). Most notably, Anna successfully passed legislation named after her daughter, Ava, who had been diagnosed with autism. “Ava’s Law” creates access to the diagnosis and treatment for individuals with autism in Georgia regardless of age, funder, or location. Recognized consistently for performance excellence and contributions to the autism field, Anna has over fifteen years of experience in working with healthcare payors, developing policy and advocating at the state and federal level for autistic individuals and their families. Her work also extends to school districts wherer she ceeayed and received funds to support the development of an after-school program for at risk students in rural areas in Georgia. Anna's work has expanded access to ABA services in some of the most challenging states, identifying unique and complex regulatory issues and then creating the political will to remove barriers. Anna states that the best part of her job is working collaboratively with families, autistic individuals, and other advocates.
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All behavior-analytic intervention is individualized. The information on this page is for educational purposes and does not constitute clinical advice. Treatment decisions should be informed by the best available published research, individualized assessment, and obtained with the informed consent of the client or their legal guardian. Behavior analysts are responsible for practicing within the boundaries of their competence and adhering to the BACB Ethics Code for Behavior Analysts.