Families on edge as Colorado recommends rate cuts to providers of critical autism therapy
Colorado residents Karmen Peak and her husband have two children, both who she says are thriving because of their access to a critical autism therapy.
"What the staff members are doing at my kids' center is life-changing for my kids," Peak said.
She started fighting to maintain that access last summer and came to CBS Colorado after her family lost care.
"As parents we were just sent home a letter saying ABA services will be canceled," she said in July of 2023.
The center providing ABA, or applied behavioral analysis, told her it was because the state's Medicaid reimbursement rates were just too low.
Advocates say by their count, half a dozen organizations either left Colorado or closed their doors for the same reason.
Eventually, they got the support of lawmakers on the Joint Budget Committee who approved an emergency increase of 20%.
"I could cry just talking about it. We were just so excited to have a solution in place for these providers," Peak said.
It was not the solution presented by Colorado's Department of Health Care Policy and Financing, a department that is now forced to make budget cuts ahead of the new year. Part of their recommendation is to bring those rates back down.
The department shared the following statement about the reduction request.
"HCPF, the Governor's office and the Office of State Planning and Budget (OSPB) values the work that PBT and ABA providers offer to Colorado children living with autism. This upcoming budget year is full of very difficult choices in an effort to present a balanced budget to the JBC and General Assembly. The decision to request a targeted rate reduction for pediatric behavioral therapies is one of those difficult decisions. Given the current budget situation, the rate increases implemented in FY24-25 were not sustainable. OSPB put forth targeted rate reductions for several Medicaid rate classes, including reducing PBT rates to the levels that were requested in FY24-25. These reductions do not remove the full increases some of these providers received in last year's budget. Even with the proposed change, the rates would still be higher than FY 2023-24."
"The Governor will continue to prioritize increasing provider rates to the extent possible given a limited state budget, as it has historically. Ultimately the JBC is going to need to make difficult choices and potentially deeper cuts to other areas of the budget like public safety and education if they choose to increase rates for Medicaid providers."
State Sen. Barbara Kirkmeyer who sits on the budget committee says she's not surprised it's back on the table, but for her keeping the rates remains a priority.
"As I have said several times this year those are still my priorities when it comes to funding the budget, so yes, there are other things that are going to have to take more dramatic cuts so that we can figure out how we do fund rates trying to get an increase, certainly no decreases which is what is in the governor's request," Kirkmeyer said.
For Peak and her family, the discussion alone leaves them feeling uneasy.
"I just want, you know, our governor and the state of Colorado to prioritize special needs children, because as a parent, I feel like my kids are overlooked. So, it's disappointing." Peak said.
