Intellectual and Developmental Disability News for Week Ending March 13, 2026

March 12, 2026
The Boost News

SPOTLIGHT: MEDICAID & AUTISM

The Wall Street Journal’s paywall means some of you won’t be able to access “The Boom in Autism Therapy Is Medicaid’s Fastest-Growing Jackpot,” an article that’s been getting some buzz. So, here are some bullet points:

• The Journal’s analysis says some companies offering Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) therapy have found opportunities to capitalize on the growing need for individualized treatments meant to help patients manage behavior and develop daily living and social skills, sometimes outpacing regulators’ oversight.
• The number of companies offering ABA therapy almost doubled between 2019 and 2023.
• Direct payments from state Medicaid programs to autism therapy providers grew to $2.2 billion in 2023, from $660 million just four years earlier. Private insurers administering Medicaid benefits paid hundreds of millions more.
• ABA is the fastest-growing service in Medicaid.

Read the whole article here. (WSJ)

$11B NY Medicaid contractor accused of ‘fiscal and operational failures’ in other states Public Partnerships LLC (PPL) was brought in to replace hundreds of middlemen in the Consumer Directed Personal Assistance Program (CDPAP) as a cost saving measure in 2024. (The New York Post)

NYS Guide to 2026 State Budget Fight (NY Focus)

NYC 2025 graduation rate dips, fueled by declines among students with disabilities and English learners It was the largest year-over-year decline in more than two decades. (Chalkbeat)

Impact of Colorado budget cuts gets real as lawmakers start trimming Medicaid programs (CPR)

Colorado bill to end forced sterilization of people with disabilities moves through Senate (KKCO

Advocates say proposed changes to MaineCare would take services away from kids with disabilities (Maine Public)

Advocates warn potential budget cuts could impact services for adults with disabilities in Mass. (Boston25 News)

Massachusetts Unseals Records of Abuse of Disabled People in State Institutions “Our estimate is that we’ve opened more than 10 million records with this law. … Family members have a right to see that information, know it, and safeguard it. And eventually the public does as well, so that it can understand the enormous atrocity that has occurred.” (Truthout)

Report: 50 Minnesota school districts still using ‘seclusion’ rooms (News from the States)

New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham signs literacy, special education bills into law (Source New Mexico)

NC legislators, alarmed over increasing cost of autism therapy, search for ways to control it (NC Newsline)