Medicaid Autism Therapy Under Pressure—Georgia MCO Cuts ABA Rates 20% As States Move To Restrict Rapidly Rising Treatment Costs

CareSource Georgia, a Medicaid managed care organization (MCO), is reducing reimbursement for certain Medicaid applied behavior analysis (ABA) therapy provider organizations by 20%, effective May 11, 2026.

In its notification to provider organizations, CareSource Georgia reported the reductions were part of a broader effort to support sustainable program operations. The notification was sent on March 27, and provider organizations had 45 days to object, with the understanding that objecting was likely to trigger termination of the organization’s network provider agreement. CareSource Georgia made no changes to ABA prior authorization requirements or billing guidelines.

In a statement, CareSource stated that . . .