CMS Releases ABA Toolkit
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid (CMS) has issued an Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) Toolkit to “address a wide range of operational and policy considerations — from clinical standards and Medicaid benefit design to payment methodologies, provider enrollment, credentialing, utilization management, and program integrity strategies designed to identify fraud, waste, and abuse.” The Toolkit provides states with information and suggested practices across key policy and operational areas, but, according to materials from CMS, does not establish any new federal requirements.
Suggested practices in the Toolkit are aimed at:
- “Helping ensure children receive ABA services that are medically necessary, individualized, and appropriate for their clinical needs;
- Helping states support treatment intensity that reflects each child’s clinical needs rather than standardized service models;
- Protecting families by helping states ensure ABA providers are qualified and properly supervised;
- Promoting responsible stewardship of taxpayer dollars by discouraging unnecessary or inappropriate services;
- Helping to ensure states’ ability to identify fraud, waste, and abuse, and other improper billing practices; and,
- Helping states continue providing medically necessary autism services to eligible children through Medicaid.”