Ascend Capital Partners has acquired a majority stake in Unison Therapy Services, a Walnut Creek, California-based multi-specialty youth and family behavioral health provider. Announced Jan. 9, the deal sees an in-home, in-school and in-center behavioral health provider centered in applied behavior analysis (ABA) trading hands between private equity firms. Ascend Capital Partners, a New York […]

After a slow dealmaking year in 2024, private equity is eager to get back in the game. While the M&A landscape is ripe to surge, it might not be a season of crowing about deals. Still, getting paid for services rendered will likely be a dicey prospect.  Add on top of those trends in the […]

The fast-growing autism therapy provider ABA Centers of America is claiming $80 million in a contract and payer ghosting lawsuit that it filed against Canton, Massachusetts-based Point32Health. State court documents argue that Point32Health has underpaid claims for services that were authorized for certain patients and since December 2023 has not paid any ABA Centers of […]

It’s that time of the year to reflect on what was to prepare for what may be coming down the way. Greater pressure for care quality, parental involvement, multidisciplinary services and ever-increasing pressure from regulators and payers made 2024 a year that shows how fast the industry is maturing and how far it still has […]

State Medicaid programs are federally required to cover applied behavior analysis (ABA) services for children with autism. In 2020, the state of Indiana’s fee-for-service Medicaid payments totaled $101.8 million, the second highest in the U.S. An audit completed by the Office of Inspector General (OIG) for the United States Department of Health and Human Services […]

In 2024, the autism therapy industry faced a year mainly focused on finally reconciling many of the challenges that the coronavirus pandemic foisted upon the industry. In 2024, workforce challenges normalized or improved, some previously stuck payer rates are seeing incremental movement and the financial markets are moving in such a way to make dealmaking […]

Optum is reportedly executing a multi-pronged plan to curb spending on applied behavior analysis (ABA) provided to patients covered by Medicaid. The insurer targets its Medicaid-contracted autism therapy networks in Arizona, Nebraska, Tennessee, Virginia, New Jersey, Indiana and Louisiana, according to a report by the nonprofit investigative journalism outfit ProPublica. The plan is a response […]

Autism therapy provider Proven Behavior Solutions has acquired Prism Autism Education & Consultation, expanding its footprint into a second state. The acquisition brings Proven’s total facility count to seven. “We are excited to welcome Prism into the Proven family,” Scott Snider, Proven CEO, said in a statement. “This partnership strengthens our ability to offer even […]

JoyBridge Kids has its eyes on the autism industry’s Holy Grail: a harmonious marriage of clinical services and operations. Mount Juliet, Tennessee-based multidisciplinary autism therapy company’s founders started a company intending to “offer the highest quality care, first and foremost,” JoyBridge Kids CEO and President Mike Cairnes told Behavioral Health Business. The company was founded […]

Researchers may be on the verge of finding biomarkers to help detect autism. Last year, a team of University of California-Davis scientists released a study that linked a widespread autism spectrum disorder (ASD) subtype to autoantibodies in the diagnosed patient’s mother. The researchers took blood samples from 68 mothers in Pennsylvania and Arkansas who have […]