Yes. North Carolina Medicaid covers ABA therapy for children with an autism diagnosis, through NCDHHS and the managed care plans that administer it. Coverage runs on prior authorization, which means the plan has to approve a set number of hours before therapy begins and again each time the authorization is renewed. We handle those requests for you.
Medicaid ABA therapy in Charlotte, NC
Medicaid covers ABA. Most families pay nothing.
North Carolina Medicaid covers ABA therapy for children with autism, and we accept it at our Charlotte clinic, in your home and in your child's school, with no copays for most families.
We handle the benefits check and the prior authorization ourselves, and we don't keep a waitlist. Most Charlotte families begin within two to four weeks of their first call.
BACB ACE Accredited Medicaid and major insurers accepted Serving NC and VA
BACB ACE Accredited Medicaid and major insurers accepted Serving NC and VA
BACB ACE Accredited Medicaid and major insurers accepted Serving NC and VA
BACB ACE Accredited Medicaid and major insurers accepted Serving NC and VA
Insurance We Accept 
Know your plan
Which kind of Medicaid is your child on?
Three routes lead onto NC Medicaid, and the paperwork differs slightly between them. The name on your child’s card tells you which one you have. We accept all three.
- Standard Plan Healthy Blue, Carolina Complete Health or AmeriHealth Caritas The route most Charlotte children are on. All three cover ABA in every county in the state.
- Tailored Plan Alliance Health Mecklenburg's plan for children with more complex developmental or behavioral needs. It also covers Cumberland, Durham, Harnett, Johnston, Orange and Wake.
- No managed care plan NC Medicaid Direct Medicaid with nothing in between. ABA is covered the same way, and the authorization goes to NCDHHS instead of a plan.
Plans we accept
Your plan, and what we do with it
Which plan you hold changes the paperwork, not the therapy. We are in network with each of these, and we file the authorization with whichever one covers your child.
- Alliance Health The Behavioral Health and I/DD Tailored Plan for Mecklenburg County. Children with more complex developmental or behavioral needs are enrolled in it rather than in a Standard Plan.
- Healthy Blue Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina's Medicaid plan, a Standard Plan covering all 100 counties.
- Carolina Complete Health Statewide since WellCare of North Carolina merged into it in April 2026. If your card still says WellCare, your benefits moved across automatically.
- AmeriHealth Caritas A Standard Plan available in every county in the state.
Connect n Care is a BHCOE Accredited Practice and a BACB Authorized Continuing Education provider. Every program is written and supervised by a named Board Certified Behavior Analyst, and you can read their bios before you call.
If your card still says WellCare, you are on Carolina Complete Health now: the two merged on April 1, 2026 and members moved across automatically.
Not every ABA provider in Charlotte accepts NC Medicaid. If you are comparing clinics, ask each one directly: it is the single thing most likely to decide what your child’s therapy costs.
How it works
From your first call to the first session
Four steps, and we do three of them.
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You call us
Tell us which plan your child is on and where you are in Charlotte. If you already have a diagnosis report, have it handy. If you do not, we will talk you through getting one. Call 877-262-2221.
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We check the benefits
We contact your plan, confirm ABA is covered, and tell you in writing what it covers and what, if anything, you would pay. You do not call anybody.
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We file the authorization
Medicaid requires prior authorization before ABA starts. We prepare the request, submit it with the assessment, and follow up on it. This is the part that takes the longest and the part families most often get stuck on alone.
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Therapy starts
Sessions begin at our Old Statesville Road clinic, in your home, at your child's school, or a combination. Most Charlotte families start within two to four weeks of that first call.
Sessions run from our Charlotte clinic at 6634 Old Statesville Rd, or in your home and your child's school across greater Charlotte and Mecklenburg County.
Medicaid questions we hear most
What Charlotte families ask us
We accept Healthy Blue, Carolina Complete Health and AmeriHealth Caritas — the Standard Plans most Charlotte children are on — along with Alliance Health, the Tailored Plan for Mecklenburg County, and NC Medicaid Direct. If your card names a plan you do not see here, call us and we will check it rather than guess. Not every provider in Charlotte takes NC Medicaid, so it is worth asking any clinic you are comparing us with.
Most families on Medicaid pay nothing out of pocket for ABA therapy. Medicaid does not carry the deductibles and coinsurance that commercial plans do. If your plan has any cost-sharing, we tell you the figure in writing before therapy starts rather than after.
Most Charlotte families begin within two to four weeks of their first call. The assessment and the authorization are what set the pace, and both move faster when the diagnosis report is already in hand. We do not keep a waitlist, so the plan's timeline is the only thing you are waiting on.
Yes. Medicaid funds ABA on the basis of an autism diagnosis from a qualified provider. If your child has been assessed at Levine Children's, Atrium Health or elsewhere in Charlotte, that report is usually enough. If you are still waiting on an evaluation, call us anyway and we will tell you what the plan will need.
Yes. Our clinic at 6634 Old Statesville Rd runs center-based sessions, and Medicaid covers them on the same basis as in-home and school-based therapy. Many Charlotte families use a combination: clinic sessions during the day, in-home work on routines like mealtimes and bedtime.
Plans change, and children move between Standard and Tailored Plans as their needs change. Tell us as soon as you know. We re-verify the benefits and file a fresh authorization with the new plan so therapy carries on without a gap.
That comes out of the assessment rather than a fixed rule. A comprehensive program commonly runs 25 to 40 hours a week; a focused program targeting specific skills usually runs 10 to 25. The BCBA recommends the hours, the plan approves them, and we tell you the approved number before sessions start rather than leaving you to read it off a letter.
We appeal it, and we do the work. A denial is usually about missing documentation or the hours requested rather than about whether your child qualifies. North Carolina gives you the right to appeal and to ask for continued services while the appeal runs. We prepare the paperwork and the clinical justification, and we tell you honestly what we think the odds are.
It ended on April 1, 2023. Children covered by Health Choice moved to NC Medicaid automatically, kept their ID numbers, stopped paying enrollment fees and copays, and gained services Health Choice did not cover, including EPSDT. If you are searching for Health Choice ABA coverage, your child is on Medicaid now and ABA is covered.
Yes, and you do not have to wait for the other provider to start. Families switch mid-process regularly. Bring us the diagnosis report and we will verify the benefits and file a fresh authorization. You can also stay on their list while we check, and decide once you know your start date.
We accept most major commercial insurance as well, including Aetna, Cigna, United Healthcare and Blue Cross Blue Shield. See the full list of plans we accept, or call us and we will check your specific plan.
Get started 
Let's find out what your plan covers
It takes one call
Tell us which Medicaid plan your child is on and we will confirm the coverage, file the authorization and give you a realistic start date.
No waitlist, and no cost to find out.
