9 Investigates learned a state agency is holding off this year on making changes to therapy for families with special needs.
Those families were finally heard.
“My entire staff and half the parents came out here today,” Brooke Manion with Learning Leaps Behavior Services said.
Families flooded a state meeting Thursday about therapy services for which Medicaid helps pay. They had a lot of questions, but not a lot of answers.
“You call, you send emails and you can't get a straight answer,” Margaret Thornton with OCA said.
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The Agency for Health Care Administration, or ACHA, was considering major changes, such as reviewing individual behavioral plans and cutting reimbursements in half for therapists who work with special needs children.
Providers said that could force them to cut therapists.
“Many providers feel as if they're being punished because of bad apples and other providers who broke the rules and broke the law. Can you respond to those concerns?” Channel 9 anchor Nancy Alvarez asked.
But again, the only reply given was: “All inquiries are going to have to go through our communications office.”
However, late Friday morning, a memo from ACHA was released stating nothing would change for 2019.
Also, mandatory behavioral plan reviews have been converted to a pilot program, so the agency can see if the plans work.
While much of Central Florida will be in that program, the shift taps the brakes on those sweeping cuts.
“We really just want ACHA and Medicaid to understand that when they make these changes, they're affecting lives, they're affecting people,” Manion said.
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