INDIANA: 10% ABA rate cuts; projected $800M price tag for services

Dec 23, 2025, Fox59, FSSA announces 10% reimbursement rate cuts for most autism therapy services  

https://fox59.com/news/politics/fssa-announces-10-reimbursement-rate-cuts-for-most-autism-therapy-services/

The Indiana Family and Social Services Administration (FSSA) has announced a pending 10% cut to reimbursement rates for most ABA (autism therapy) services, with the exception of group therapy.

According to FSSA Deputy Secretary Eric Miller, the state had been on track to spend upwards of $800 million on ABA alone if the state’s plan did not change soon.

“The state faces an urgent challenge to ensure continued access to high-quality ABA therapy in a sustainable way,” Miller said during a State Budget Committee meeting earlier this month.

Miller said the new rate will still be higher than both the national average and the average across Indiana’s neighboring states.

”When the rate is arbitrarily high, you attract a lot of providers that, maybe they shouldn’t be a provider,” Miller said.

When later asked by State Rep. Gregory W. Porter (D-Indianapolis) during that meeting if Miller’s goal was to eliminate some providers, Miller replied: “Our focus is making sure that children with autism receive high-quality ABA therapy, not just ABA therapy.”

However, several ABA providers said the cut and several other recent decisions made by the FSSA have put them in a precarious position.

“I think [the cut] is unfortunately going to go through,” Shalan Baker with Pair Tree Autism Services, LLC, said. “That doesn’t change the fact that there’s still this huge need.”

According to Baker, she runs the only locally-owned autism therapy center in Logansport.

She said both the FSSA’s decision to cut reimbursement rates and cut ties with MDwise left her no choice but to close for good next week.

“We’re very tiny,” Baker said. “We opened because we wanted to serve our community. These great children who’ve learned so much and have come such a long way now go back on wait lists of these larger companies.”

“This rate cut is going to mean less access to service,” Jason McManus with Wabash Center SOAR in Lafayette said.

The center is part of a larger nonprofit that assists Hoosiers with disabilities. According to McManus, the cut will most likely affect more “mom-and pop” centers, especially in rural parts of the state.

“I think it’s going to have some ripple effects throughout the industry for a long time,” McManus said.

The FSSA will increase the reimbursement rate for group therapy by 15%. However, several providers have said that the increase is not enough to offset the cuts.

“It’s not going to offset the cost differential with the ten percent rate cut,” McManus said. “It won’t.”

For many of the kids Baker serves, she said they’ll now most likely have to travel 30-45 miles one way to receive care if they’re able to get off a waitlist.

“In the end, it’s the families that I feel the saddest for,” Baker said. “It’s just heartbreaking all around.”