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Providers and advocates request targeted funding: speech therapy, OT assistants, ABA, Duchenne screening and other items
Summary
Multiple stakeholders used the subcommittee public-comment period to request line items in FY26: occupational therapy assistant reimbursement in Medicaid Children's Intervention Services, a Duchenne newborn-screening pilot, a speech therapy CPT-rate increase to Medicare Atlanta rates, seven psychiatry residency slots at Saint Francis, Alzheimer's
A series of providers and advocacy groups presented brief public testimony asking for targeted investments in the FY26 budget.
Major requests and presenters (summarized): - Occupational therapy assistants in Medicaid children's intervention services (Tom Bauer, Georgia Occupational Therapy Association): asked to permit Medicaid reimbursement for OTA/PTA services to ease clinic waitlists; DCH staff are reviewing cost estimates (presenter noted a range of figures under discussion). - Duchenne muscular dystrophy newborn-screening pilot (Chairman Matheak): requested a DPH pilot beginning as early as April using existing Georgia lab capacity; presenter cited low false-positive rates and estimated program cost of $843,772. - Speech-language pathology rate increase (Kelly Ball, Georgia Speech Language Hearing Association): asked to raise CPT 92507 to the 2025 Medicare Atlanta market rate (from $65.64 to $75.07 per session), arguing the code is the most-used therapy unit and pay parity would aid recruitment. - Saint Francis residency psychiatry slots (Jillian Bridal): requested funding for seven additional psychiatry residency positions beginning July 1, 2025 (total ask $178,069.64) to expand local GME psychiatric capacity. - Alzheimer's registry staffing (Nancy Petra, Alzheimer's Association): requested $595,000 to fund a full-time epidemiologist, a data manager and a field recruiter to expand the state Alzheimer's registry and support tracking of new therapies and early diagnosis data needs. - Safe Haven confidential support program (Devin Creel): requested funding to implement the voluntary provider mental-health Safe Haven program established by last session's statute to reduce burnout among clinicians regulated by medical, nursing and pharmacy boards. - Produce prescription expansion (Laura Bracey, American Heart Association): asked for $500,000 to expand a research-based produce prescription program into rural counties in Georgia. - Viral hepatitis elimination funding (Kathleen Tehan, Georgia AIDS Coalition): requested about $3.2 million to support surveillance, vaccination, screening and linkage-to-care for hepatitis A/B/C statewide. - ABA (applied behavior analysis) Medicaid rate increase (Andrew Johnson): asked for $12.5 million in state matching funds across four ABA CPT codes; presenters said Medicaid last increased rates in 2019 and North Carolina pays roughly 10% more for comparable services. - Primary-care and EMS reimbursement asks (Rick Ward / coalition and Doug Reinick, ACCG): coalition requested $19 million in state funds to raise common primary care codes toward Medicare parity; ACCG requested a 10% increase in Medicaid EMS transport reimbursement at an estimated $3.7 million state cost (approx. $10.9 million total with federal match).
Committee response: The committee listened and asked clarifying questions in several cases (for example, DCH staff were asked to reconcile differing cost estimates for OT assistant reimbursement). Presenters were asked to supply further cost breakdowns and supporting data to budget staff.
