New York Cuts Its Fee-for-Service ABA Technician Rate to $9.63

The New York Medicaid ABA rate for technician-delivered therapy, CPT code 97153, fell to $9.63 per 15-minute unit on October 1, 2026. It is the third reduction to that code since October 2025. 97153 is the code clinics bill for a technician's one-on-one treatment, so the cut lands on clinics and the technicians they employ to serve fee-for-service Medicaid clients.

The New York State Medicaid Update for August 2026 announced it. The notice describes 97153 as ABA "provided by unlicensed individuals/technicians" and says the cut was authorized by the state's enacted budget for fiscal year 2026-2027.

Key Dates for New York's ABA Technician Rate

New York Medicaid ABA Rate History

The August 2025 Medicaid Update said the state would "begin a reduction" in the 97153 rate and set two dated steps. The August 2026 notice added a third:

The percentages are our arithmetic on the state's published rates. DOH's notices don't give the rate in force before October 2025, so the table starts at the first reduced figure. From $16.85 to $9.63 is a 42.8% drop in a year. Behavioral Health Business reported that the cuts together amount to a 50% reduction from where rates were in early 2025.

The notice names only 97153 and applies to fee-for-service Medicaid. It doesn't say how Medicaid managed care plans will pay, and it sets what Medicaid pays the clinic, not what the clinic pays its staff.

What CPT 97153 Covers and How ABA Billing Units Work

97153 is the code for "adaptive behavior treatment by protocol administered by technician," as Nebraska's rate table describes it, billed "per 15 minutes." New York's notice describes the same code as ABA "provided by unlicensed individuals/technicians." It's one technician working with one client from a written treatment protocol. The assessment codes (97151 and 97152) and the treatment codes billed by a physician or other healthcare professional, such as 97155 and 97156, are separate codes, and New York's notice leaves them alone.

Because each unit is 15 minutes, every rate converts to an hour by multiplying by four. Here is what Medicaid pays for an hour, and for a client scheduled for 20 hours of technician therapy a week, at each New York rate:

The hourly and weekly figures are our arithmetic. The 20-hour week is an example, not a figure from the state. That money is what the clinic receives, and the technician's wage, supervision time and overhead all come out of it.

How the 97153 Rate in New York Compares to Other States

After the third cut, Behavioral Health Business reported on September 23, 2026 that New York's fee schedule is the lowest in the nation "according to data from MediRate," and that the previous lowest was West Virginia at $9.90 a unit. Acuity, in a September 25, 2026 report, also puts West Virginia at $9.90 in MediRate's comparison, with Alabama next at $10.00.

The hourly figures are our arithmetic, four units to the hour. We haven't checked West Virginia's fee schedule ourselves, so treat the comparison as BHB's and MediRate's.

Why the State Says It Cut the ABA Rate

The state gives one reason. Both notices call the change a "reimbursement methodology" that "ensures providers of ABA services are compensated equitably for their training and experience." The August 2025 notice says the first two steps were authorized by the enacted budget for fiscal year 2025-2026, and the August 2026 notice says the same of the third for fiscal year 2026-2027. A Department of Health representative told Behavioral Health Business that the department "remains committed to ensuring access to high-quality, medically necessary care while managing Medicaid resources effectively."

NYSABA, the state's behavior analysis association, reported on May 30, 2026 that the enacted budget includes a Medicaid rate cut to providers valued at $13.7 million for the 2026-27 fiscal year.

Who Delivers ABA in New York: LBAs, CBAAs and Unlicensed Staff

New York's Education Law, in Article 167, says "only a person licensed, certified or exempt under this article shall practice applied behavior analysis." Three groups sit under that rule, and the Office of the Professions at the New York State Education Department describes each in its guidance on licensed providers and unlicensed personnel.

The statute says a CBAA works under an LBA's supervision. The Office of the Professions says LBAs are prepared at the master's level. It says unlicensed personnel typically work directly with the patient to carry out the plan, set up the room, follow the session instructions as scripted and "record/enter data, without interpretation." It lists their typical tasks as meeting with the LBA to check their understanding of the plan, preparing the setting and materials, and providing "factual session notes for review by the LBA." It adds that the State "does not set standards for unlicensed personnel," and that an LBA who delegates is still responsible for their supervision. Licensees who delegate professional responsibilities or "do not provide substantive supervision" can face professional misconduct charges.

The 97153 code maps onto that third group. Our New York ABA programs guide covers the LBA license and the programs that lead to it.

How ABA Providers in New York Responded

After the April cut, Autism Learning Partners, which serves patients in Buffalo, Albany, Rochester, Westchester County and the Bronx, said it had closed its doors to new Medicaid and Child Health Plus patients in New York and halted plans to open locations in Albany and Yonkers. A survey by the Council of Autism Service Providers and the New York State Association for Behavior Analysis, as BHB reported it, found that over 70% of providers working with Medicaid would consider ending that work if the April cut took effect.

Rachael Schneider, Autism Learning Partners' executive director for New York, said in the company's April news release that halting the Albany and Yonkers plans means "fewer providers, fewer available treatment hours, and longer delays for families seeking care." BHB reported that 480 of the 523 children the company treats have Medicaid coverage.

After the third cut, BHB's September 23 report quoted Dr. Andy Lopez-Williams, who runs a practice in Utica for children with ADHD and autism where about 90% of patients in direct therapy are on Medicaid. He called it "a death sentence of a rate cut." Mariel Fernandez of CASP told BHB the cut "destroys access to care." BHB reported that early CASP survey data from New York members show 97% of providers working with Medicaid patients cannot or don't know if they will be able to continue serving them, and the other 3% said they would reduce their time.

In April, before the 2026-27 budget passed, BHB reported that at a legislative budget hearing earlier in the year, Medicaid Director Amir Bassiri said the executive branch wanted to push reimbursement for direct care closer to a 50% cut the state had proposed the year before.

What the Cut Means for RBT and BCBA Jobs in New York

The notice changes one thing, what the state pays for 97153 hours. It says nothing about technician pay, hours or headcount. These are the rules that shape the jobs.

The August 2025 notice set a supervision floor from October 1, 2025, and the 2026 notice doesn't change it. LBAs must supervise each unlicensed technician for at least five percent of the hours that technician spends providing behavior analysis services each month, with at least two face-to-face, real-time contacts. In at least one, the LBA has to watch the technician working, and one of the two may be a small-group meeting. The state says the standard "aligns NYS Medicaid FFS policy with Behavior Analyst Certification Board (BACB) guidance" and applies it to managed care providers too. By our arithmetic, a technician who provides 120 hours in a month needs at least six hours of LBA supervision, and one on 80 hours needs at least four.

Supervision can't happen "telephonically, via email or text messaging." On-site is preferred, but live audio and video is allowed under the state's telehealth policy. Time billed as 97155 counts toward the five percent only "when the LBA joins the patient and the unlicensed individual/technician during a treatment session to direct" them in a new or modified protocol.

Those technician hours are also what an LBA's caseload runs on. A CBAA, the certified assistant level, performs tasks the supervising LBA assigns, and the Office of the Professions says a CBAA "cannot develop or modify the ABA plan." For pay on either path, see our RBT salary guide and BCBA salary guide.

What Could Change Next for New York Medicaid ABA

We found no bill to restore the 97153 rate, no lawsuit over it and no announced date for another change. Two dated items are sourced.

The first is a freeze on new provider enrollment. New York Medicaid Director Amir Bassiri announced on July 30, 2026 a six-month moratorium on new Medicaid provider enrollments, and law firm Holland & Knight lists applied behavior analysts among the six provider categories covered. Holland & Knight says it is expected to be temporary, citing Crain's Health Pulse, intended to give the state time to put a new revalidation process in place, and that the Department of Health has confirmed it won't process changes in ownership while it lasts.

The second is NYSABA's own outlook. It wrote on May 30, 2026 that it expects "reform measures for Medicaid ABA will be the focus of conversations in New York."