# Acuity News: Your \#1 Source For Behavioral Health News

> Acuity News delivers breaking coverage of the behavioral health and ABA therapy industry — M\&A deals, Medicaid policy, autism care regulation, and technology trends for executives, investors, and providers\.

Generated by Yoast SEO v28.6, this is an llms.txt file, meant for consumption by LLMs.

## Pages
- [Home](https://acuity.news/)
- [Events](https://acuity.news/events/): View all upcoming Acuity Media Network events and conferences with a focus on the behavioral healthcare industry\.
- [About](https://acuity.news/about/): We inform decision\-makers, investors, and innovators in behavioral health through an editorially independent platform\.
- [Sponsor ROI Calculator](https://acuity.news/roi-calculator/)
- [Media Kit](https://acuity.news/media-kit/): Connect your brand with the executives, investors, and decision\-makers driving the future of behavioral health

## Posts
- [Tennessee Medicaid ABA Rates Are Set Privately by TennCare’s Three Health Plans\. They Share One Rulebook but Not a Fee Schedule\.](https://acuity.news/regulation/tennessee-medicaid-aba-tenncare-mco-private-rates-2026/): Unlike neighboring southeastern Medicaid agencies that establish public fee schedules, Tennessee’s Medicaid program \(TennCare\) delegates all Applied Behavior Analysis \(ABA\) pricing to its three contracted managed care organizations—BlueCare Tennessee, UnitedHealthcare Community Plan, and Wellpoint\. While the plans enforce a strictly unified clinical rulebook governing licensure, treatment plan intervals, and annual quality attestations, the absence of state\-mandated rate floors leaves pricing decentralized across a market that generated $189\.1 million in Medicaid ABA expenditures in 2025\.
- [Hopebridge CEO LeAnne Hester on Her First Months in the Role\. Clinical Governance, Compliance, Technology, and What Indiana’s Medicaid Overhaul Has Meant for Autism Care\.](https://acuity.news/m-and-a/hopebridge-ceo-leanne-hester-on-indiana-medicaid-changes/): Following the unannounced March 31 transition of Chief Executive Officer LeAnne Hester, Hopebridge spent two quarters embedding enterprise governance, establishing its first Chief Information Officer role, and conducting rigorous third\-party compliance audits\. Navigating aggressive Indiana Medicaid regulatory shifts and RBT credentialing hurdles, Hester outlines how the 100\+ center platform balances private equity ownership, clinic site density, and its new "Focus Care" skills\-based model\.
- [Community Care Cut Pennsylvania IBHS Authorizations to Six Months on September 17\. Magellan Extended Its Six\-Month ABA Limit to Two More Counties\.](https://acuity.news/regulation/pennsylvania-ibhs-aba-authorization-cut-six-months-community-care-magellan-2026/): Intensive Behavioral Health Services \(IBHS\) providers across Pennsylvania face a doubling of administrative reauthorization workflows after Community Care Behavioral Health Organization slashed service authorization periods from 12 months to a maximum of six months effective September 17, 2026\. Coupled with a new 200\-unit cap on individual ABA assessments and Magellan's OMHSAS\-approved six\-month policy in Somerset and Bedford counties, the shifts accelerate a statewide movement toward compressed review cycles against an unchanged $12\.73 statewide technician base rate in place since 2020\.
- [Ohio Medicaid ABA Has No Adopted Fee Schedule After ODM Paused Its Rule\. Draft Technician Rates Trail the Behavioral Health Codes ABA Has Been Billed Under\.](https://acuity.news/regulation/ohio-medicaid-aba-rule-pause-draft-rates-behavioral-health-codes-2026/): More than a decade after federal directives instructed states to cover pediatric autism services under EPSDT, the Ohio Department of Medicaid \(ODM\) has yet to formally adopt an Applied Behavior Analysis \(ABA\) fee schedule\. After circulating draft rules under Ohio Administrative Code Chapter 5160\-34 that priced technician code 97153 at $16\.04 per unit, ODM halted rulemaking to re\-evaluate policy design amid budget shortfalls, audit findings in peer states, and concerns over providers billing ABA under higher\-reimbursing community behavioral health codes\.
- [Michigan Medicaid ABA Requires One Rate, a $16\.50 Floor for 97153, and Leaves the Rest to PIHPs\. State Benchmarks Price Degreed Staff Time Far Higher\.](https://acuity.news/regulation/michigan-medicaid-aba-rates-97153-floor-pihp-benchmarks-2026/): Operating through ten regional Prepaid Inpatient Health Plans \(PIHPs\), Michigan Medicaid mandates only a single fee floor for Applied Behavior Analysis: a state directed payment of $16\.50 per 15\-minute unit \($66\.00/hour\) for technician\-delivered CPT 97153\. While this statutory minimum places Michigan at the top of the Midwest for entry\-level technician floors, all other codes—including BCBA protocol modification under 97155—are left to closed\-door PIHP negotiations, trailing the state’s own Milliman actuarial benchmarks that price degreed clinical hours significantly higher\.

## AdSanity: Ads
- [Marsh McLennan Mobile and Sidebar Ad](https://acuity.news/ads/marsh-mclennan-mobile-and-sidebar-ad/)
- [Marsh McLennan Desktop Banner](https://acuity.news/ads/marsh-mclennan/)
- [Artemis \- Run Your ABA Practice Smarter with AI\-Powered Workflows](https://acuity.news/ads/artemis-run-your-aba-practice-smarter-with-ai-powered-workflows/)
- [Plutus Health \- AI\-Driven ABA RCM for Smarter Claims, Denials \& Collections](https://acuity.news/ads/plutus-health-ai-driven-aba-rcm-for-smarter-claims-denials-collections/)
- [Acuity Banner Ad \- Desktop](https://acuity.news/ads/acuity-banner-ad-desktop/)

## Categories
- [Regulation](https://acuity.news/category/regulation/)
- [Technology](https://acuity.news/category/technology/)
- [M\&A](https://acuity.news/category/m-and-a/)
- [Blog](https://acuity.news/category/blog/)

## Tags
- [Main Featured](https://acuity.news/tag/main-featured/)
- [Featured](https://acuity.news/tag/featured/)
- [Applied Behavior Analysis \(ABA\)](https://acuity.news/tag/applied-behavior-analysis-aba/)
- [CPT 97153](https://acuity.news/tag/cpt-97153/)
- [CPT 97155](https://acuity.news/tag/cpt-97155/)

## Categories
- [DiviMenus](https://acuity.news/layout_category/divimenus/)
- [General Content Sections](https://acuity.news/layout_category/general-content-sections/)

## Type
- [section](https://acuity.news/layout_type/section/)
- [module](https://acuity.news/layout_type/module/)
- [row](https://acuity.news/layout_type/row/)
- [layout](https://acuity.news/layout_type/layout/)

## Module Width
- [regular](https://acuity.news/module_width/regular/)

## Scope
- [not\_global](https://acuity.news/scope/not_global/)
- [global](https://acuity.news/scope/global/)

## AdSanity: Ad Groups
- [Home Footer Desktop Banner](https://acuity.news/ad-group/home-footer-desktop/)
- [Home Footer Mobile](https://acuity.news/ad-group/home-footer-mobile/)
- [Article Banner Desktop](https://acuity.news/ad-group/article-desktop/)
- [Article Banner Mobile](https://acuity.news/ad-group/article-mobile/)
- [Sidebar](https://acuity.news/ad-group/sidebar/)

## Topics
- [Behavioral Health](https://acuity.news/topic/behavioral-health/)
- [Applied Behavior Analysis](https://acuity.news/topic/applied-behavior-analysis/)
- [regulation](https://acuity.news/topic/regulation/)
- [Healthcare Economics](https://acuity.news/topic/healthcare-economics/)
- [M\&A](https://acuity.news/topic/ma/)

## Optional
- [Sitemap index](https://acuity.news/sitemap_index.xml)