Florida Terminated 220-Plus Medicaid Providers. The Announcement Didn’t Say if Any Provide ABA.

WEST PALM BEACH, FLORIDA – Gov. Ron DeSantis’s office said Florida has terminated more than 220 Medicaid providers for fraud, waste, or abuse. The Oct. 6 announcement did not name them, give case findings, or say whether any deliver applied behavior analysis.

The total covers Florida Medicaid as a whole, and the release did not break it down by provider type. It said the Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA) conducted more than 400 provider site visits since January, concentrating on areas the agency considers higher risk, including ABA, durable medical equipment, and adult day care.

The release also projected Medicaid ABA spending of $2.88 billion in fiscal 2026-27, nearly $1 billion below an earlier $3.86 billion forecast, and credited managed care, utilization management, and the state’s anti-fraud work.

At the announcement, WPTV chief investigator Jamie Ostroff asked AHCA Secretary Shevaun Harris for a list of providers accused of fraud. Harris said she would provide what she could without jeopardizing ongoing, potentially criminal investigations, the station reported. State law keeps fraud investigation records confidential until the agency takes final action, refers the case for prosecution, or finds the complaint lacks merit. The Oct. 6 release did not include a provider roster.

State law requires AHCA to post a searchable list, updated at least monthly, of providers terminated for cause or sanctioned. A termination without cause does not trigger that requirement, and the agency’s online search of legal orders does not identify which records make up the 220.

AHCA’s last annual fraud report, for fiscal 2024-25, listed six behavior analysis providers among its program-integrity terminations. Denials of enrollment or re-enrollment, a separate step from terminating an existing provider, ran far higher. In its largest denial category, the report lists 893 behavior analysis denials, more than any other provider type, plus 67 in a separate table for failed site reviews or background checks.

Earlier this year, CBS News Miami and WPTV reported on South Florida behavioral health companies and families who said they had received Medicaid termination notices or lost ABA coverage. Neither outlet reported a case-specific explanation from the state, and those reports do not establish whether any of the providers involved are among the 220.

There are other ways to lose coverage. Since Medicaid managed care plans began paying for ABA in February 2025, some providers have lost their place in plan networks, the Florida Phoenix reported, which is not the same as being terminated from Medicaid.

AHCA’s next required annual fraud report is due Jan. 15, 2027, and must count terminations by provider type for the fiscal year that ended June 30, 2026. DeSantis said the 220 were terminated since the start of 2026, the Florida Phoenix reported. Any that came after June 30 will not appear in that report.

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