February 13, 2026

In Pennsylvania, Medicaid, also called Medical Assistance (or MA), pays for tens of thousands of children to receive needed behavioral health services at no cost to their parents, and often in their own homes, schools, and communities. When behavioral health services are determined by a doctor and an MA health plan to be medically necessary, they may include outpatient therapy, in-home aides, behavior consultants, school or community aides, specialized autism treatment, medication management, residential treatment programs, acute care hospital stays, and more. The home and community-based services are called by different names, e.g., wraparound, Intensive Behavioral Health Services (IBHS), Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA), outpatient therapy, partial hospitalization, and so on. If your child is receiving behavioral health services with no copayment or deductible, their services are most likely being funded, in full or in part, by Medicaid. To learn more, click here.