Researchers from Michigan State University Report Details of New Studies and Findings in the Area of Managed Care (Short Report: Disparities In Hours of Applied Behavior Analysis Services for Medicaid-enrolled Autistic Youth): Managed Care

2025 DEC 25 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News -- Data detailed on Managed Care have been presented. According to news originating from East Lansing, Michigan, by NewsRx correspondents, research stated, “To date, no studies have investigated whether disparities in hours of applied behavior analysis (ABA) exist in the Medicaid system. We used multilevel modeling to analyze Medicaid billing claims for 1,028 autistic youth under the age of 21 years to examine the extent to which there were disparities in hours of ABA services for Medicaid-enrolled youth based on race/ethnicity and rurality.”

Our news journalists obtained a quote from the research from Michigan State University, “Although younger children received more hours of ABA, F(1, 964.63) = 118.28, p< .001, there were no statistically significant differences in hours of ABA based on minoritized race/ethnicity status or sex. On average, youth served in rural areas received significantly less hours of ABA per month than those in non-rural areas, F(1, 122.13) = 7.89, p = .006; youth in rural areas received 10.86 less hours per month than those in non-rural areas. Results suggest that publicly funded service systems like Medicaid may reduce ABA service disparities by race/ethnicity.”

According to the news editors, the research concluded: “Policymakers should focus on improving service provision for youth in rural areas.”

This research has been peer-reviewed.

For more information on this research see: Short Report: Disparities In Hours of Applied Behavior Analysis Services for Medicaid-enrolled Autistic Youth. Autism, 2025. Autism can be contacted at: Sage Publications Ltd, 1 Olivers Yard, 55 City Road, London EC1Y 1SP, England.

The news correspondents report that additional information may be obtained from Diondra Straiton-Webster, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, United States.

The direct object identifier (DOI) for that additional information is: https://doi.org/10.1177/13623613251392495. This DOI is a link to an online electronic document that is either free or for purchase, and can be your direct source for a journal article and its citation.

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