One Year After Benefit Began, Are Kids in Medi-Cal Getting Autism Treatment?

In a California Healthline report by Deirdre Kennedy, experts discussed the state’s effort to implement autism treatment for children as a Medi-Cal benefit. Advocates have said the waiting list to go through a lengthy evaluation process has slowed access to autism therapy, and health plans have had a difficult time setting up provider networks without a state rate structure.

The report includes comments from:

Sarah Brooks, deputy director of health care delivery systems at the California Department of Health Care Services;
Kelly Hardy, the senior managing director of health policy at Children Now, a children’s health advocacy group based in Sacramento;
Kristin Jacobson, president of Autism Deserves Equal Coverage, an autism therapy advocacy group based in Burlingame; and
Sarah Trautman-Eslinger, founder of Berkeley-based STE Consultants, which provides ABA therapy services (Kennedy, California Healthline, 09/16/15).

You can download a PDF of this report.

KFF Health News is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF—an independent source of health policy research, polling, and journalism. Learn more about KFF.

<h1>One Year After Benefit Began, Are Kids in Medi-Cal Getting Autism Treatment?</h1>
<div>		<time class="posted-on" datetime="2015-09-16T05:44:00-07:00">
			September 16, 2015		</time>
		</div>
<p>In a <em>California Healthline</em> report by Deirdre Kennedy, experts discussed the state’s effort to implement autism treatment for children as a Medi-Cal benefit. Advocates have said the waiting list to go through a lengthy evaluation process has slowed access to autism therapy, and health plans have had a difficult time setting up provider networks without a state rate structure.</p><p>The report includes comments from:</p><ul><li>Sarah Brooks, deputy director of health care delivery systems at the California Department of Health Care Services;</li><li>Kelly Hardy, the senior managing director of health policy at Children Now, a children’s health advocacy group based in Sacramento;</li><li>Kristin Jacobson, president of Autism Deserves Equal Coverage, an autism therapy advocacy group based in Burlingame; and</li><li>Sarah Trautman-Eslinger, founder of Berkeley-based STE Consultants, which provides ABA therapy services (Kennedy, <em>California Healthline</em>, 09/16/15).</li></ul><p>You can <a href="https://californiahealthline.org/legacy/9B907B8F-B6AA-4D69-BEF6-D75D1637F5A2">download a PDF</a> of this report.</p><ul><li><a href="https://californiahealthline.org/news/one-year-after-benefit-began-are-kids-in-medical-getting-autism-treatment/?share=facebook">				Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)				Facebook			</a></li><li><a href="https://californiahealthline.org/news/one-year-after-benefit-began-are-kids-in-medical-getting-autism-treatment/?share=linkedin">				Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)				LinkedIn			</a></li><li><a href="https://californiahealthline.org/news/one-year-after-benefit-began-are-kids-in-medical-getting-autism-treatment/?share=x">				Click to share on X (Opens in new window)				X			</a></li><li><a href="mailto:?subject=%5BShared%20Post%5D%20One%20Year%20After%20Benefit%20Began%2C%20Are%20Kids%20in%20Medi-Cal%20Getting%20Autism%20Treatment%3F&body=https%3A%2F%2Fcaliforniahealthline.org%2Fnews%2Fone-year-after-benefit-began-are-kids-in-medical-getting-autism-treatment%2F&share=email">				Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window)				Email			</a></li><li><a href="https://californiahealthline.org/news/one-year-after-benefit-began-are-kids-in-medical-getting-autism-treatment/#print?share=print">				Click to print (Opens in new window)				Print			</a></li><li>				<a href="https://californiahealthline.org/news/one-year-after-benefit-began-are-kids-in-medical-getting-autism-treatment/view/republish/">					Republish This Story				</a>			</li></ul><em><a href="https://kffhealthnews.org/about-us">KFF Health News</a> is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF—an independent source of health policy research, polling, and journalism. Learn more about <a href="https://www.kff.org/about-us">KFF</a>.</em><p><a href="https://californiahealthline.org/morning-briefing/">Subscribe</a> to KFF Health News' free Morning Briefing.</p>

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