ABA Therapy Glossaryfor Parents
All termsReauthorization
Reauthorization is your health plan's or Medicaid program's review, near the end of an approved period of ABA, of whether to approve another.
What it means
Reauthorization means your health plan or Medicaid program decides whether to approve more applied behavior analysis (ABA). It happens at or near the end of the current approval. Your health plan checks whether therapy is still needed, based on your child's progress, skills and ongoing needs. It also sets the level of care for the next period. Families often know this step as a treatment plan review.
One provider group's older guidelines say approvals shouldn't usually last less than six months, while a 2026 Medicaid toolkit lets each state set its own length. Either way, your child's behavior analyst should use data to decide whether to keep, change or end services.
What it looks like for your child
Before the period ends, your Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA) checks your child's skills again and sends an updated treatment plan. States may ask for new test scores, progress graphs, goals met or changed, and attendance compared with the hours approved. Medicaid guidance also tells states to look at caregiver training. That means your parent training notes can matter. Your health plan can then keep, change, raise, lower, transition or end services. A change in hours isn't automatically a denial.
What to ask your BCBA
- When it's due: Ask your BCBA when your current approval ends and when the reassessment is scheduled.
- What gets sent: Ask your BCBA which progress data and goal changes will go in the request.
- Your plan's rules: Ask the billing team how long your plan's approval periods run and how you'll hear the decision.
Is your child's ABA approval coming up for review?
A BCBA reassesses your child and builds the updated plan and progress data the review needs.
Sources
- Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), Medicaid ABA Toolkit, pp. 32, 35, 110 to 111 and 139 (August 2026).
- Council of Autism Service Providers (CASP), ABA practice guidelines, 2nd ed., p. 22.
- Behavior Analyst Certification Board (BACB), Ethics Code for Behavior Analysts, p. 12, sections 2.16 to 2.18.
Related terms
Medical necessity and prior authorization
Medical necessity means care is needed to diagnose or treat a condition, and prior authorization is your plan's approval of a service before it begins.
Definition →
Treatment plan (comprehensive vs focused ABA)
An ABA treatment plan is the written, individualized plan your BCBA builds before services start, setting goals, methods, weekly hours and a review schedule.
Definition →
ABA assessment (VB-MAPP, ABLLS-R)
An ABA assessment is how a BCBA measures your child's strengths, missing skills and barriers to learning before writing a treatment plan.
Definition →
Data collection and session notes
In ABA, data collection is the steady, measurable record of what happens each session, and a session note is the written record of that session.
Definition →
Discharge and fading services
Discharge is the planned end of ABA services, and fading is the gradual step-down that leads to it, with fewer hours and more caregiver coaching.
Definition →