The parents of more than 20 children with autism notched a recent victory in a lawsuit that accused the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services of discrimination after it slashed Medicaid reimbursement rates for certain behavioral health providers.
During a hearing in Wake County on Nov. 10, a Superior Court judge granted an injunction ordering NC DHHS to temporarily halt the cuts it imposed last month on providers of applied behavior analysis therapy. Medicaid payments for the treatment, designed to help children with autism build communication and daily living skills through intensive one-on-one behavioral interventions, had been reduced by 10 percent amid an ongoing standoff with and within the General Assembly over the state budget.
While all providers of Medicaid-covered services across the state have been subject to cuts of at least 3 percent, the lawsuit filed in late October alleged that the larger reduction for ABA unfairly singled out children with disabilities…