Autism Advocates Wants Illinois To Make Access To Services Through Medicaid Less Difficult

Some Illinois autism advocacy groups want the state to ease some complications of receiving services through Medicaid.

When Governor JB Pritzker was in Carbondale last month, the Autism Society of Southern Illinois took the opportunity to thank him for the supportive changes he’s signed into law.

But they also wanted to remind the governor of some changes they’re still advocating for.

Stephanie Brown with the Autism Society of Southern Illinois says the state has a 10 to 12 month wait list to receive services, so families are going to Missouri to get the diagnosis for autism spectrum disorder.

“Then when they get back to the state of Illinois, where many of our families in southern Illinois receive state assisted health insurance, it's the therapy that they need is not covered so that is a very critical component for the family’s getting services that they need.”

Brown says Medicaid requires service providers to have dual certification, but that’s not very common in this area.

They want the language changed so Medicaid covers Applied Behavior Analysis therapy.

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