Dr. Kristi Cabiao, CEO and president of Mission Alpha Advocacy, at Military Times:
ABA is a primary intervention for autism spectrum disorder; it is delivered by a behavior analyst involving multiple sessions several times a week over months or years. In commercial health plans, it’s considered a mental health service and is protected through the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act, or MHPAEA, of 2008.
The 2022 Report on MHPAEA to Congress by the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and of the Treasury found egregious violations of the parity law regarding ABA services for autistic individuals. This report was not a surprise to the autism community. But the often-overlooked tragedy is that this federal protection does not apply to military families receiving ABA. The ABA services provided by Tricare are exempt from the MHPAEA laws, and military families are paying the cost.MHPAEA prohibits health policies placing high co-payments, separate deductibles, and stricter pre-authorization or medical necessity reviews compared to other medical treatments covered by the plan. The Department of Defense policies guiding Tricare oversight of ABA services have clear examples of MHPAEA violations.
Parents seeking ABA services for their children must undergo stress assessments every six months to receive authorization for ABA. This mandate for parent stress assessments does not apply to any other population within the military healthcare system. Now, imagine this exact policy applied to children receiving insulin for diabetes. Children would be denied medically necessary treatment due to the parent’s noncompliance. Mandating parent stress assessments in order to receive ABA is a violation of MHPAEA.
