ABA Therapists Face Pay Crisis After Florida Medicaid Switch

Registered behavioral technician Arlene Perez has not received any paycheck for the past month while continuing to support a 12-year-old boy on the autism spectrum. Her agency's reliance on Medicaid funding has been disrupted by Florida's appointment of Molina Healthcare as the new administrator for the Children's Medical Services program, effective October 1. Since this transition, most claims submitted by Perez's agency have gone unprocessed. Perez joined other providers in protesting outside Molina's Doral office, highlighting the financial precarity faced by those delivering essential care. Medical attorney Henry Marines reports that nearly 700 providers are in a similar situation, having not been paid. He expressed confusion, as Molina should have received the allocated state funds for recipients at the start of the month. Molina Healthcare has not yet responded to requests for comment. The Florida Agency for Health Care Administration confirmed it is actively investigating the payment concerns raised by ABA providers. This payment delay has caused significant anxiety among parents, who fear that a prolonged disruption could lead to the closure of vital service providers and the potential loss of established therapeutic relationships for their children.