Appellate Court Considers Whether Insurance Companies Should Cover Disputed Autism Treatment

The case regarding applied behavior analysis has been long-running dispute between families, covered by Medi-Cal, Healthy Families and Calpers, and insurance companies. The outcome of the case could affect more than 13,000 children with autism in California.

Applied behavior analysis, or ABA, “is a system in which every moment and action by the child is monitored and rewarded by the therapist on a one-to-one relationship for periods of 35, 40 hours a week,” plaintiffs attorney Fred Woocher said. Insurers often deny claims involving applied behavior analysis, according to the lawsuit.

An attorney representing an insurance company says that the therapy is denied when it is administered by a behavioral health practitioner, rather than a doctor.

Read More ›