Judge puts hold on Ohio Medicaid funding changes for autism treatment

A federal judge ruled Monday that the state must postpone new Medicaid funding rules that would have cut treatment payments to a group of Central Ohio families with autistic children (Source: “Autism ruling pleases parents,” Columbus Dispatch, July 2, 2008).

The decision is believed to be the first in the nation to directly address federal funding for autism treatment. U.S. District Judge James L. Graham ruled that there is a "reasonable chance" that Ohio's new regulations violate Medicaid law. The matter now will go to trial.

The Parents League for Effective Autism Services, a group of about 50 families of autistic children served by a Worthington treatment facility, sued the Ohio Department of Mental Health and the Department of Job and Family Services over the proposed changes.

State officials said that the facility’s full-time rate of  about $60,000 per year, per child is out of line with other providers and would make Ohio out of compliance with federal Medicaid regulation. The families countered that the services offered at the center were necessary, effective and not available elsewhere.