Jennifer Brown at The Colorado Sun:
Colorado has lost at least nine agencies that provide therapy for children with autism in the past year and a half, leaving hundreds of families without care and filling up waitlists across the state.
Therapy providers say the reimbursement rates they receive from the Colorado Medicaid program are too low to keep their doors open, especially after many state residents became eligible for the federal-state insurance program during the pandemic.
At the same time, Colorado is facing a health worker shortage and autism therapy agencies say they are struggling to pay workers enough to keep them.
Gillian McGoldrick at The Philadelphia Inquirer:
Disability providers that run day programs, in-home care teams, and residential facilities say they need more state funding to stay open, increase wages, attract more workers, and offer services to the 60,000 Pennsylvania residents who need them.
About 34% of disability service agencies have closed since 2020, largely due to a shortage of workers, according to a survey by the organizations representing providers.
More than 12,000 people are waiting to be approved for state services in Pennsylvania, and about 4,000 more are approved for services but left them due to pandemic closures and have not yet returned — mostly due to the lack of available space.
