Hope Network, A Nonprofit, Acquires a Three-Clinic Michigan Autism Practice
Developmental Enhancement told families that billing will eventually move to its new owner’s tax ID, after which insurers would treat the owner as a new provider.
Business
Payer audits, hiring economics, billing infrastructure, and the deals reshaping who owns autism services. Coverage of insurer recoupments, value-based contracting, fraud indictments, and operator profiles. For people who run practices, not the people writing checks. Pairs with policy, private equity, careers.
North Carolina’s ABA Therapy Bill Exploded. Alliance Health Signed Cortica to Rein It In
The plan’s CEO says it is not relying on fraud enforcement alone. A March state forecast puts annual spending above $1 billion in fiscal 2027.
LEARN Behavioral Unit Battles MassHealth to Block $943,000 ABA Clawback
One health plan told the state that the audit methodology “may be flawed,” then sent its own $86,000 demand, the complaint says.
Providence Says Washington’s Only ABA Bridging Program Not Sustainable. Manager Quits In Protest
Jill McDaniel says she had about 36 hours to compile the financial data Providence used in its decision.
Chris Sullens Built CentralReach Into a Juggernaut. He Left Without a Press Release or Permanent Successor
The exit came 16 months after Roper closed its purchase. COO Clark Convery is serving as interim CEO, and no timetable for naming a permanent successor has been publicly announced.
Questions Remain for ABA Centers Scholarships After Temple Ends Barnett Pledge
Company recruitment materials still advertise Temple scholarships, but the university’s termination announcement does not address whether employee tuition support continues.
SAB Capital Pitches Sale-Leasebacks as ABA Growth Money
The real estate firm finds investors who buy a therapy provider’s clinic and rent it back for years. Its case studies say the cash has funded new centers and new staff and…
Payer Concentration Risk in ABA: How Much Revenue Should Depend on One Insurer?
If your largest insurer cut your rates 20% tomorrow, would your practice survive it? The answer comes down to one number most ABA owners have never calculated.
You’ll Never Outrank the Big ABA Chains
The national chains own “What is ABA Therapy?”, and a regional clinic won’t take it from them. Good thing that stopped being the game. Here’s how AI search actually decides who a…
Graham Holdings Is the Only NYSE-Listed Owner of an ABA Chain
The former Washington Post Company now provides autism therapy as its only recurring quarterly public disclosure, making Graham Holdings the only NYSE-listed owner of a dedicated ABA chain. The latest filing shows…
Autism Clinic Owner Gets 36 Months for Wyoming Medicaid Fraud
Prosecutors said The Olive Branch billed for appointments that did not occur, including days when the clinic was closed or when Tera Campbell was abroad. Campbell’s daughter, who handled medical billing, was…
Pediatrics Plus Buys Cynergy and Arkids in 12-Location Deal
The Conway buyer emerges with about 2,100 employees in four states and expects to add ABA across the combined organization over time.
Eleos ABA Files Chapter 11 as Provider Bankruptcies Spread
This family-run Baltimore business filed for court protection in May, reporting over $820,000 in unsecured debt and just $242,595 in assets. The biggest claim comes from a short-term lender, and the payment…
Oklahoma ABA Practice Owner Pleads Guilty to Medicaid Fraud
Maria Dianda, owner of Advanced Behavioral Solutions, pleaded guilty to Medicaid fraud for billing for services she never provided, even while out of the country. She must repay $65,907. A Tennessee counselor…
Well-Funded Alternatives to ABA Are Courting Its Payers
Positive Development raised $51.5 million to scale a non-ABA model it says costs roughly half as much, and AnswersNow followed with $40 million for a low-hour virtual approach. As state Medicaid programs…
ABA Centers of America Cut Off by Optum, Lays Off Staff
The company grew rapidly in the autism care sector by billing insurers out-of-network, a strategy uncommon among its competitors. Two payers have now alleged in court that this billing was fraudulent, putting…
Optum Tightens Commercial ABA Claim Rules for 2026
Beginning in 2026, every commercial behavioral health claim will need NPI and taxonomy codes for both the billing and the rendering provider, and the diagnostic records Optum uses to authorize therapy are…
School-Choice ESA Funds Emerge as ABA’s Newest Payer
Families in Florida and Arizona already direct nearly $2 billion a year in state scholarship money, with therapy on the approved list. Texas adds $1 billion this fall, and none of it…
Defiance Launches an Autism ETF of Public Companies
The Autism Impact ETF, ticker ASD, tracks pharma, diagnostics, and online education, not the ABA providers at the center of autism care, because almost all of them are privately held.
Action Behavior Centers Standardizes Design at 400 Clinics
The Charlesbank-backed chain has grown from five Texas clinics to more than 400 nationwide. Its new playbook for how those centers look is the standardization a multisite operator adopts as it scales.
Action Behavior Centers Builds a School-Age ABA Tier
ABC Academy serves children 5 to 12 who are already in school, pushing the center-based model past its early-intervention core and lengthening the years a child, and a payer, stays in ABA.
Inside Bierman’s Research Lab for the Future of ABA
PEBBL is turning everyday therapy sessions into a proving ground for faster progress, stronger curricula, and a more evidence-driven model of autism care
STEPS Behavioral Health Expands In-Home ABA in Colorado
The founder-led Maryland provider is building a caseload in Denver, Aurora, and Boulder before committing to a building of its own, a capital-light way to test a new state. It is doing…
Lovely Day ABA Shutters in Greensboro Citing a Medicaid Dispute
The Triad provider’s founder drained her retirement and savings to keep it open before telling about 100 families and 75 employees that it was closing indefinitely over a six-figure Medicaid prior-authorization dispute.
Mobile Therapy Centers Abruptly Closes Its Illinois ABA Clinics Leaving Families and Employees Stunned
The Libertyville provider told families and staff by email it could no longer sustain ABA services in the state, halting therapy in clinics, schools, and daycares.
Ample Joy ABA Files California WARN Notice For 100 Layoffs
The Corona provider, founded in 2021, with sites in Los Angeles and Palm Springs, has not publicly explained the cuts. The filing lands during a 2026 cluster of California autism-services closures.
Zoe Center for ABA Files Chapter 11 With Liabilities Up to $10 Million
A multi-state ABA provider has filed for bankruptcy protection as the industry contends with rate cuts, audit pressure, and a reimbursement environment that is squeezing independent operators.
Easterseals Port Health Shutters Wilmington ABA Therapy Program Citing BCBA Labor Shortage As Cause
The nonprofit’s March 31 exit gave 15 families 30 days to find new care, and signals how the BCBA workforce crisis is hitting mission-driven providers, not only the PE-backed roll-ups.
Autism Learning Partners Shuts New York Medicaid Panels After Rate Cuts Make ABA Services Unsustainable
One of the largest PE-backed ABA providers in the country closed its New York Medicaid intake on April 17, 2026, citing two 12.5% rate reductions that left the state reimbursing below Texas…
ABA Pivots to Multidisciplinary Care, ACES Goes the Other Way
Cortica, Hopebridge, Westside, and most other major operators are layering speech, OT, and feeding services onto ABA. ACES, backed by General Atlantic, just acquired multispecialty provider Ally Pediatric Therapy in January 2026…