Information

ABA Therapy Payment Options in Atlanta

December 12, 2021 by Ben Schorr 0 Comments

We all want the best for our children. That’s why we always go out of our way to provide for them and make their lives much easier. But what happens when you’re unable to afford to your child’s treatment?

Applied behavioral analysis (ABA) therapy is considered one of the best treatments for autistic children. However if your insurance is not going to cover the treatments it can get pretty expensive.

Therefore, we have put together this guide so you will understand all the payment options that are available to you.

But before we get into the payment options for ABA therapy in Atlanta, let’s take a quick look at the therapy itself. 

Click here if you want to learn more about our Atlanta based ABA therapy.

What is ABA Therapy?

Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA) is a science that focuses on improving behaviors such as communication, social skills, academics, and reading. It’s also aimed at improving adaptive learning skills, including hygiene, fine motor dexterity, and domestic capabilities.

The therapy also aims to improve patients’ skills in grooming, punctuality, and job competence. All this is achieved through operant conditioning and positive reinforcement.

On Average, How Much Does ABA Therapy Cost?

Typically, a board-certified ABA therapist will charge you about $120 an hour. This adds up to $4800 a week for a child receiving 40 hours of therapy. If you don’t have insurance, you could end up spending up to $125,000 a year on ABA therapy.

For most parents, coming up with these figures is very challenging. Some may not even afford to get their children enough hours of therapy each week. Without sufficient time with patients, an ABA therapist can’t fully analyze behavioral changes or build rapport with them.

That being said, several factors come into play when determining the overall expenses for ABA therapy. They include:

  •         The severity of the autism experienced by the child
  •         Where the therapy will take place
  •         Length of time spent with the ABA specialist
  •         The individual ABA therapist’s desired rates and experience level

Does Medicaid Cover ABA Therapy in Atlanta?

Since January 1st, 2018, Medicaid has been providing coverage for Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) patients under the age of 21. The coverage is provided according to the severity and medical necessity.

How to Get Medicaid Coverage for ABA Therapy

If you want to get Medicaid to cover ABA therapy in Atlanta, there is some paperwork you need to get in order. You must have a document indicating your child’s DSM-V diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder. The diagnosis must also be from a licensed medical professional, such as a physician or psychologist.

A licensed physician or healing arts practitioner must also recommend ABA therapy for your child. The services must also be recommended to prevent autism spectrum disorder from progressing and improve the patient’s physical and mental health.

What Insurances Does Hidden Talent Accept?

Hidden Talent believes that children with autism can lead happy and productive lives. It focuses on helping children grow and thrive by improving social, communication, and adaptive skills.

It also understands the financial burden that ASD therapy can put on you as a parent. As such, it has partnered with various insurance companies to enable you to get the funding you need to cater to your child’s needs.

Hidden Talent accepts the following insurance companies:

  •         Aetna
  •         Ambetter
  •         Amerigroup Community Care
  •         BCBS
  •         Beacon
  •         Caresource
  •         Cigna
  •         ComPsych
  •         Humana
  •         Medicaid
  •         OPTUM
  •         Peachstate
  •         Tricare
  •         United Commercial
  •         United Healthcare
  •         Wellcare of Georgia

If you have any of the above as your insurance provider, contact them to get a full list of your benefits.

Does Georgia Have Caps of ABA Therapy Coverage?

According to Georgia laws, individuals with autism are entitled to meaningful coverage in state-regulated plans. Ava’s law, which was originally passed in 2015, has been amended to increase the limits on the coverage of ABA therapy to individuals between 0 and 21 years.

Also, each individual’s coverage is limited to a maximum annual benefit of $35,000 per year.

By law, the following services must be covered for those with autism:

  •         Diagnosis and treatment of ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder)
  •         Rehabilitative services, including applied behavior analysis (ABA)
  •         Counseling services provided by a licensed psychologist, licensed psychiatrist, clinical social worker, or professional counselor

Other Resources That Can Help Pay for ABA in Atlanta

Anchor of Hope Foundation

Steve and Debbie Harbin founded the Anchor of Hope Foundation in 2007. They were inspired by their son Jacob, who was diagnosed with autism at the age of three.

The couple spent years working with doctors and therapists, so they know the difficulties, disappointments, and discouragement that come with raising a special needs child. Despite this fact, they value the unique joy and blessings their son, Jacob, brings to their family. They also desire to help other families facing the same ordeal through the journey.

The foundation offers scholarship grants of up to $250 towards equipment, therapy, and other needs that are not covered by insurance. They hold offer tons of family events where both parents and autistic children can connect and share their experiences.

Avita Community Partners

Founded in 1999 by the Georgia State Legislature, Avita Community Partners serves individuals experiencing the disabling effects of developmental disabilities, mental illness, and addictive diseases.

They seek to promote stable, safe, and meaningful lives for citizens within a 13-county area in northeast Georgia.

United Healthcare Children’s Fund

The United Healthcare Children’s Fund Foundation offers timely financial support to families with autistic children. They help with the medical expenses that are not covered or fully covered by the families’ health insurance provider.

The Bottom Line

Caring for an autistic child can be challenging, especially when they don’t have access to the treatments they need to live happy and fulfilling lives. ABA therapy is scientifically proven to help autistic children live normal lives.

And although ABA therapy is expensive, there are tons of payment options out there that can help you finance your child’s treatment.

How Sleep Medication Can Help Children with AutismHow Sleep Medication Can Help Children with AutismDecember 8, 2021
Difficult Roads Lead To Beautiful DestinationsDecember 14, 2021Difficult Roads Lead To Beautiful Destinations

Scott Rustulka

Scott, a native of Canada, joined the Hidden Talents team at the onset of 2021, moving his family of 6 from San Diego to the great state of Georgia. He began his journey in behavior analytics in 2001 at a time when autism programs had very little oversight by credentialled clinicians. The onset of that journey was wrought with disappointment in a system that seemed to do very little lasting good for the long-term growth of the individuals within that system.

Over the years, Scott determined to ensure that dignity and respect was afforded to the children he had the privilege of working, while devoting a lot of energy into understanding how the development of a child is the key focus to treatment and not reactive behavior modification. Truly listening to the child and the family and finding ways to make behavior change fun and engaging continues to be his passion. Over the last 20 years, Scott still relishes every opportunity to visit families and have the honor of being a part of their lives.

Maureen O'Brien

Maureen joined the Hidden Talents ABA Team in 2020 and has over 15+ years’ of Office Management and Administrative experience. Maureen is that friendly voice that will most likely greet you when you call into the office with a positive attitude and ready to assist with the screening and the ABA authorization process. Maureen said “the best part of my job is working with a phenomenal team and helping as many families as possible.

Olivia Steele

Olivia’s goal is to act as the bridge between our Registered Behavior Therapists and the families that they serve. She has always gravitated towards opportunities that harbor a personal client connection, with a mission statement to always help others.Olivia is passionate about fitness and wellness, spending the last decade as a part time fitness instructor. She most enjoys yoga and Pilates, disciplines that have both physical and meditative benefits. In her free time, she likes crafting and is an amateur woodworker. She is also a big animal lover; she owns a cat and 13 tarantulas.

Arye Hartal

Arye is a Licenced Behavior Analyst and a former airline pilot. His areas of interest include verbal behavior (VBT) and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT). Improving the quality of life for children with Autism Spectrum Disorder and their families is of great importance to him. Over the course of his career, he has become highly qualified in implementing many ABA techniques including PRT, FCT, ESDM, DTT and NET.

Arye has experience working in the school, community, and home-based settings. His patience, compassion, and knowledge of ABA contributes greatly to the success of the children that he works with. His interests outside of work include volunteering for I Can Bike (teaching kids with disabilities how to ride a bicycle), traveling, spending time with friends and family, playing hockey, and reading.

Joanna Young

Joanna is a graduate of Ball State University and became a licensed, board-certified behavior analyst (BCBA) in 2016. She has worked in this field since 2014 in a variety of settings ranging from in-center, in-home, and currently telehealth. Joanna was introduced to the world of behavior analysis as an undergraduate trying to fulfill her degree requirements, which landed her an internship working as an in-home behavior technician. She quickly realized how effective early intervention ABA therapy was and enjoyed seeing her clients gain new skills as they became more independent.

Joanna particularly loves working with children under 3, especially now that she has her own 6-month-old daughter! She is passionate about ensuring ABA strategies and techniques translate well into the home setting and parents feel empowered to help shape their child's life. Joanna joined the Hidden Talents team in March 2021 as a clinical supervisor and works remotely from Houston, TX.

Elissa Watson

Elissa is a Board Certified Behavior Analyst from Greenville, South Carolina. She has a Masters in Science for Psychology with an emphasis in Applied Behavior Analysis and has been working in the field of ABA for 9 years. She has had experience as both an RBT and BCBA in the home, clinical, community, school and telehealth-based environments with a wide range of clients and ages. Elissa, as a part of the Hidden Talents team has broadened her experience to make ABA more accessible to all. When not working, Elissa enjoys spending time with her husband and pets, traveling, and playing music.

Matthew Grennell

Matthew received his Masters of Science in Applied Behavior Analysis in May of 2009 from Florida Institute of Technology. Over the course of his career, Matthew has worked in Florida, Texas and New York, serving both children and adults in both in-home as well as clinic-based settings. The majority of Matthew’s work in Applied Behavior Analysis has been in the in-home setting. Matthew has also consulted with schools and worked as part of multi-disciplinary teams as well as concurrently teaching certification courses for Florida Institute of Technology’s Applied Behavior Analysis program for four years.

Through teaching Matthew was able to not only ensure quality of services provided by himself but also work to ensure that high quality of services could be provided by other Behavior Analysts and service providers. Matthew is very familiar and experienced in working with families to ensure that behavioral progress for every child is maintained in the home through extensive involvement of parents in the process. Matthew has worked primarily with parents and families in all three states he has worked in and has experience with collaborating successfully with all professionals involved in a child’s care.

Matthew believes strongly that a child’s success is best achieved through building skills that maximize success in all areas of their life as a comprehensive approach. Matthew believes that, through this approach, not only does the child benefit directly from improvements in their skill level but the family benefits as well.

Sharifah Christie

Born in Kingston, Jamaica, Sharifah moved to America when she was 8 years old. She knew from a young age that she wanted to have a career focused on helping children. In college for her undergraduate program, she studied Speech Pathology at the University of West Georgia. In the later part of the program, she was exposed to the principles of Applied Behavior Analysis and decided to make a switch, eventually graduating with a masters in ABA with an emphasis in Autism at Ball State University. Her fascination with the field deepened as she continued to work as a Behavioral Therapist for over two years.

Desiring to develop in other roles and responsibilities within this field, Sharifah is now managing the administrative aspects of the clinical hiring and training at Hidden Talents and enjoying every moment of it! Sharifah has always said that the most favorite part about her career so far has been the privilege of seeing the progress the kiddos have made overtime and making a difference in their lives while creating a fun learning experience for each of them.

Kimberly Culbreth

Kimberly is a Board Certified Behavior Analyst from South Carolina with more than 10+ years in the ABA field. Kimberly completed her undergrad at Clemson University, and she graduated from Capella University with a Masters of Science in Psychology with an emphasis in Applied Behavior Analysis in 2018. Kimberly is very passionate about working with children with disabilities and helping them succeed. She consistently goes above and beyond for all of her clients.

Kimberly has experience working with children in the home, clinic, community, and telehealth-based settings. She recently started at Hidden Talents to help broaden her experiences with working with children with disabilities. Outside of work Kimberly enjoys spending time with her 3-year-old daughter, traveling, and cooking.

Bisirat Haile

Bisirat Haile is a passionate Board-Certified Behavior Analyst serving her community for over 10 years. Bisirat Has a 10-year track record of working collaboratively with families and RBTs to create lasting change for children with ASD. Bisirat is a telehealth BCBA for Hidden talents. Listening to the priorities of families and earning their trust is extremely important to Bisirat. Bisirat joined the Hidden Talents team as the company shares her commitment to learning and listening to families to provide them support. Bisirat is excited to potentially work with you and provide you support.

Lindsay Campbell

Lindsay Campbell is a Board Certified Behavior Analyst and Advanced Certified Autism Specialist. She is a future clinical neuropsychologist who is passionate in diagnosing, assessment and creating individualized treatment plans to address each child’s area of need. Lindsay has worked in a variety of settings including forensic, school, home, hospital, and telehealth settings. Lindsay received her dual bachelor’s degrees in Psychology and Criminal Justice from California State University, and her Master of Science in Applied Behavior Analysis from National University. After receiving her BCBA, Lindsay went back to complete her Doctorate in Clinical Neuropsychology from California Southern University and will be graduating in 2021 with the highest honors.

Her ultimate goal is to bridge the gap between diagnostic evaluation and treatment with ABA to allow timely access to ABA services. Lindsay believes the most important letters after her name are 'MOM' as she is the mother of an atypical child. She brings a professional and personal perspective to teaching and raising a child with atypical learning skills to build relationships and further support parents. Integrating ABA techniques and evidence-based practices, she believes we can make significant changes to increase skills of children and their family.