FABA Update Regarding South Florida Moratorium and Upcoming CPT Codes

You will see in the November 10, 2021 Medicaid Alert that AHCA has extended the Moratorium for Provider Enrollment another 6 months, to May 13, 2022.

In addition, AHCA has announced the forthcoming transition from the current Healthcare Common Procedure Coding System (HCPCS) to the national Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) Codes.  The Agency plans to have the CPT-based behavior analysis fee schedule in place effective July 1, 2022.

In anticipation of this transition, FABA met with the AHCA team who will be driving this change.  We agreed that as soon as the Provider Alert was published then additional messaging and training would be developed and provided incrementally to help providers have a smooth transition to this national standard. 

You may have heard that a strong coalition of behavior analysis supporting organizations have been collaborating on a model health insurance coverage policy since 2016 for the AMA with the model specifically for ABA providers developed in 2020.   The ABA Coding Coalition included representatives of the Association of Professional Behavior Analysts, Autism Speaks, Behavior Analyst Certification Board, Council of Autism Service Providers, and their CPT® consultant.

It is felt by providers both at the national and local level sampled here in Florida that this is a good change regardless of who your payers are.  At present there is considerable variability across payers in policies regarding ABA services.  In turn, to the extent that payers will adopt these standards there should be more consistency in the coverage of ABA services.  This should enable providers of ABA services to communicate with payers about appropriate coverage determinations, including indications, limitations, and competence level of those providers recommended to render services.

FABA will continue to meet with this AHCA transition team as information becomes available and to help develop language for policy and rule related to the transition to CPT Codes.

Thank you for staying engaged with us as we work with the Agency for Health Care Administration to help with this transition and address any questions or concerns you may have about this change.  Remember you can always contact us at:  [email protected] .

Regards, Steve Coleman, BCBA-D

FABA’s Public Policy Director

FABA is delighted to inform our members that our 41st Annual Meeting is moving forward in a HYBRID format.  The 2021 Annual Meeting to be held at the JW Marriott Turnberry in Miami, Florida, September 29 – October 2, 2021.  To ensure FABA21 is accessible to all members, we will offer a fully virtual component for those not comfortable or able to join us in Miami.  

2021 Call For Papers

DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSIONS:
Workshops:  Midnight May 1, 2021
Papers, Panels, Symposia: Midnight June 15, 2021
Posters & Ignites: Midnight July 1, 2021
Awards: Midnight August 1, 2021

To submit a presentation, please visit https://faba.memberclicks.net/2021-call-for-papers

In our last update we alerted you to the anticipated statewide roll out of the Electronic Visit Verification or EVV program on May 1^st, 2021.  Obviously, that date has come and gone, however we expect a decision in the next 10 days of when statewide deployment will begin.  The decision to launch will be dependent on key elements of the systems being fully operational and glitch free.

In an effort to fully inform AHCA of continued system problems and to aid in the decision making process we will need your input.  Early next week we will send out a link to another EVV survey to capture your experiences with Tellus as well as concerns and challenges with system problems that persist so we can share that data with AHCA.  The rapid submission of your survey by the end of next week will be critical to allow time to compile and summarize results for our presentation to AHCA the following Wednesday.

Your participation in this upcoming survey is critical to the decision for deployment, so we hope you will take the time to complete the survey.  Also, please encourage your colleagues providing behavioral services in South Florida to participate.  We would like to see a healthy response to get broad representation of all the remaining issues from those who deal with the EVV system everyday.  Your FABA representatives have been communicating your concerns to AHCA for over a year, and would like to be able to counter Tellus reporting that all system problems have been resolved. 

If there is any thing else in the meantime, you can reach out to your FABA representatives ([email protected]) at any time or check out our website and Facebook page for any comments, experiences, or questions you may have.

FABA Multicultural SIG Updates

NEW MEETING SCHEDULE

FEBRUARY CEU ACTIVITY

FABA EVV Action Committee Update - January 7, 2021

FABA EVV Action Committee Update - December 14, 2020

Based on our most recent contact with AHCA – as of Thursday (12/11/20) AHCA was reporting that of the 464 providers registered in Tellus, there were 23 who had not had visits or claims in the Tellus system.  Similarly, of registered providers, 78 have at least 1 visit in the Tellus system, also with no claims.  All 101 providers had at least one recipient with an active PA.  

The good news here, in addition to having registered, approximately 80% of providers have successfully attempted billing through Tellus.  Unfortunately, the window for billing through FMMIS is closing, effective December 21, 2020.  Claims made through FMMIS after that time will be denied.

So, please Communicate Your Tellus Challenges! 

If you encounter problems with PAs, scheduling events, missing or changed scheduled events, errors in visit location, lack of Tellus response or billing issues, please contact Damon Rich at AHCA.  Please use the Subject line, “FABA Referral” and avoid bombarding a variety of AHCA staff, so that your concerns are directly seen by Damon Rich.  Damon’s email is [email protected].

Please remember, if there is no PHI involved in your message, also copy the FABA PAC, [email protected], so we can assist you and work with AHCA

Thanks again for staying engaged with us as we work with AHCA to continue attempting to get EVV problems resolved.  Your continued sharing of your EVV challenges helps us put a face on continued EVV problems when meeting with AHCA.  Each day there are incremental improvements resulting from your input!

Regards, Steve Coleman, BCBA-D

FABA’s Public Policy Director

FABA EVV Action Committee Update - December 7, 2020

Here’s where we are today – on Friday (12/4/20) AHCA was initially reporting that they had determined that there were 144 out of 470 providers unregistered in the Tellus EVV System.  Later, they determined 12 of the 144 were still billing directly to FMMIS, although they were unregistered with Tellus.   It was also speculated that at least some of the 144 unregistered providers may not have been providing services and subsequently never registered.  Over the weekend, apparently, 3 more providers have registered, leaving 9 providers having a restriction on their file.  The good news is that most providers have registered.

The next hurdle for providers is to attempt to submit at least some claims to show a good faith effort to use Tellus for billing.  If there is no billing through Tellus, all claims submitted directly to FMMIS will suspend until AHCA can document the provider has begun using the Tellus EVV System to submit claims. Once confirmed, the claims in FMMIS will be released for payment without any further action by the provider.  Providers will not need to resubmit the claims.

So, please Attempt to Bill through Tellus! 

If you encounter problems billing through Tellus, please contact Damon Rich at AHCA.  Please use the Subject line, “FABA Referral” and avoid bombarding a variety of AHCA staff, so that your concerns are directly seen by Damon Rich.  His email is [email protected].

Thank you for staying engaged with us as we work with AHCA to continue attempting to get EVV problems resolved.  Your continuing response to surveys and sharing your EVV challenges with us and AHCA have been most helpful and are resulting in improvements to the system!

Regards, Steve Coleman, BCBA-D

FABA’s Public Policy Director

FABA EVV Action Committee Update

The FABA EVV Action Committee continues to meet regularly with AHCA. If you did not read the AHCA Alert from 11/25/20 you should know that as of Monday, December 7th, the Agency for Health Care Administration will be enforcing the use of the Tellus EVV System. This means that all Behavior Analysis Fee-for-Service providers funded through Medicaid must be registered in the Tellus system. If you are not registered in the Tellus system as of Monday you will no longer be able to bill through FMMIS. If you are NOT REGISTERED all claims submitted directly to FMMIS will suspend until the Agency confirms that you have registered and begun using the Tellus EVV System at least for scheduling and visit verification.

So, PLEASE REGISTER as soon as possible, if you have not done so already. If you are having PROBLEMS REGISTERING please contact Damon Rich at AHCA. His email is [email protected] Please use the Subject line, FABA Referral and avoid bombarding a variety of AHCA staff, so that your concerns are directly seen by Damon Rich.

Also, if you are not providing PHI, please copy the FABA PAC, [email protected], so we can assist you and work with AHCA to assure you get registered.

Click below to view a job aid, “AHCA BA Registration Process” that should help walk you through the registration process.

AHCA - Registering Your Agency with Tellus EVV

Update from the FABA EVV Action Committee

The FABA EVV Action Committee met with AHCA this morning and we believe that some additional flexibility with the December 1^st “go live” implementation of the EVV system has been achieved.  These flexibilities will help to ease providers into full implementation over the month of December.  This will mean that providers in the pilot areas (Area 9, 10 and 11) in South Florida will need to demonstrate a good faith effort to attempt implementation of all aspects of the EVV system.

The demonstration of participation will be monitored for all providers in these areas and FABA will be meeting weekly with AHCA to review this progress and update membership.  In the first phase this will mean that ALL providers must register and create an account in the system.  Currently, it appears that only 40% of providers in the Region are registered, while the data is showing that 98% of registered providers have a least 1 recipient listed.  In addition, providers need to attempt scheduling in the system, as only 72% of those currently registered are actually using the system to do this.  Lastly, attempts should be made to bill.  Currently, only 39% of those registered in the system have attempted billing.

To move this system forward, FABA strongly encourages providers to register into the system immediately.  If problems are encountered with registering, AHCA wants to know that so they can address the problem.  The same is true for scheduling and conducting sessions.  Similarly, as providers begin the transition of billing from FLEMMIS to Tellus, AHCA will need to know of any problems with this process.  Part of the agreement is to allow use of FLMMIS, if needed, until December 21st.

Any problems that you encounter should be sent to AHCA through encrypted mail or with a password protected Word document, followed by the emailed password.  AHCA has advised that you are more than welcome to continue copying Tellus, but AHCA will take lead on any direct referrals sent to them.  This means they will either resolve the issue directly without Tellus involvement, or specifically direct Tellus actions for prompt intervention and resolution.  

• You can email the following individuals:
• [email protected]
• [email protected]
• [email protected]
• [email protected]
• [email protected]
• Subject Line: FABA Referral –
• Specific Example when available
• Include at a minimum, when applicable:
• Date of issue
• Provider ID
• Recipient ID
• Address/Service Location
• Tellus Ticket number if one has been opened
• If you are not providing PHI, please copy the FABA PAC, [email protected], so we can continue to aggregate the data and conduct follow-up with AHCA during our weekly reviews.

Post-2020 Session – Legislative Update – HB 731, Agency for Health Care Administration

Governor DeSantis did sign HB 731 – Agency for Health Care Administration on June 30, 2020, that contains an exemption from the health care clinic licensure for Medicaid providers. Now that the exemption is law, it is our understanding, after speaking with the Medicaid Policy Office at AHCA that the exemption will be automatic for behavior analysts enrolled as Medicaid providers and no further action will be needed to be taken by Medicaid providers. We also expect the Agency to announce that the December 1, 2020, health care clinic licensure requirement deadline for behavior analysis groups will be repealed from the Medicaid Enrollment Handbook and that administrative rulemaking will be necessary to effectuate the change. We are anticipating a Provider Alert soon from AHCA on this matter. Please stay tuned and attend the September  17, 2020, panel discussion with AHCA, APD, and CASP at 4pm during the 2020 FABA Conference for further information.

The 2020 Program is now available for download!   The Program committee has been working tirelessly to create a one-of-a-kind virtual Annual Meeting experience in 2020.  Click the link below to view the 2020 program.

2020 Conference Program

Now is the time to cast your vote, this year we are electing 2 members-at-large and 1 president.   Current members can cast their vote by clicking below:

Vote Now

Nominations for the FABA Board

We had an overwhelming response this year, and the nominations for the 2020 FABA Board are now closed.  Please stay tuned for Election information that will be published as soon as the nominated members confirm that they would like to run for office.

Register for FABA 2020 now! Join us online!!

The FABA Team has been working to adjust to the ever changing situation that is unfolding in our state. Although we had hoped to host a smaller version of our annual face-to-face conference, FABA 2020 will instead be a virtual event. The FABA Board feels this is best for the safety of our members, presenters, and student researchers that attend our annual event.  

ONLINE Conference Registration

This year we will feature Dr. Patrick Friman, Matthew Normand, Sung Woo Kahng, Shahla Alai, Karen Toussaint, Jennifer Austin, Brian Greer and Jeanne Donaldson as Invited Speakers.  Tyra Sellers & Ellie Kazemiwill speak on Supervision and Jon Bailey & Noor Syed will speak on Ethics. In addition, to this great lineup, we will have panel discussions, two social events and a special event at the end on '50 years of Behavior Analysis'.

The ONLINE event will be held Thursday, September 17th and Friday, September 18th from 8am-5pm each day.  BA-CEUs are included in the Professional Member registration fee (ending your attendance verification).

Conference Registration Fees

Registration after August 1, 2020:
$150 - Professional Member Full Registration *Includes CEUs, pending attendance verification

$95 - Student and Parent members, Does NOT include CEUs

$250 - Non-Members Full Registration

Recently, there have been many demonstrations occurring across the U.S. to bring attention to the tragic killings of Black lives. We are deeply saddened and angry by these events and our board believes that we must not stay silent during times of injustice. Therefore, we want to be clear that FABA condemns acts of racism, hate, injustice, and brutality faced by the Black community. Today, we stand with our Black members, clients, and community in the fight against systemic racism and racial violence. We hear you and value your voice and lives.

In these difficult times, our board believes that we must not stay silent. We are deeply saddened and angered by recent and ongoing events targeting the black community. Therefore, we want to be clear that FABA condemns acts of racism, hate, injustice, and brutality. Today, we stand with our black members, clients, and community in the fight against systemic racism and racial violence.

We think it is important to acknowledge that behavior analysis has not given these issues enough attention and that we have a lot of work to do. Behavior analysts can contribute to the conversation and efforts to create a more equitable and just world.

For now, we would like to share this recent publication: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40617-020-00411-4 

CoFABA 2020

From Roots to Branches:
The Growth and Sustainability of Behavior Analysis

Postponed until May 14, 2021