**It starts with a diagnosis and hope. Then quickly spirals into paperwork, denials, phone calls, and frustration. If your child needs Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) therapy and you’ve tried to get insurance to cover it, you already know this: it’s not just hard it’s emotionally exhausting.
At the age of three, Joseph's son received an autism diagnosis. She did everything right got the evaluations, found a reputable ABA provider, and checked with her insurance company to confirm coverage. “We were told we had benefits,” she said. “But two months in, we got a letter saying our claims were denied due to ‘lack of medical billingl necessity.’ I cried. How could they say this wasn’t necessary?” The problem? Her pediatrician had referred her son, but the insurance company required a formal diagnostic report from a developmental pediatrician. The appointment backlog was six months out. “We lost half a year waiting,” Joseph said. “Meanwhile, we were paying out of pocket $120 per session, three times a week. It nearly broke us financially.” Eventually, with help from her provider’s ABA billing service team and a new report from the right specialist, the claims were approved but only going forward. “We never got reimbursed for the earlier sessions,” Joseph said. “Thousands of dollars just… gone.”
A common thread in nearly every story is this: calling the ABA insurance company often makes things worse, not better. “My husband and I used to joke that we needed a translator just to understand the denial letters,” said Kevin, father to a nonverbal 7-year-old. “They’d say things like ‘insufficient documentation’ but when we asked what that meant, no one had a clear answer.” Sometimes, it takes multiple appeals, hours of phone calls, and even letters from therapists to reverse a single denial. “We were told our policy had a 20-hour weekly cap on ABA,” said Anita, mom of twins with ASD. “Except we never hit that cap. They were denying random sessions anyway. It took four months to figure out their system had a coding error.” These aren’t isolated incidents they’re the norm. And for parents already stretched thin with therapy schedules, emotional care, and everything else, it's often the last straw.
What doesn’t get talked about enough is how much mental energy all this consumes. “I started to dread the mail,” said Maria, whose son’s therapy was paused mid-treatment due to denied pre-authorizations. “Every envelope felt like bad news.” The delays affect more than just schedules they affect outcomes. ABA therapy is most effective with consistency and early intervention. Every missed session because of paperwork is a missed opportunity to build skills. And for providers? They often end up caught in the middle wanting to support families but bogged down by red tape.
Professional ABA billing services can help with this.. Families shouldn’t have to become insurance experts just to get their child the help they need. Companies like Cube Therapy Billing step in to bridge the gap between therapy centers, insurance providers, and parents. They handle things like: Pre-authorizations
Submitting and tracking claims
Appealing denials
Verifying benefits
Keeping records in compliance
For parents like Joseph, this would’ve saved her thousands. For therapists like Kevin’s BCBA, it means more time focused on treatment, not paperwork. And for families overall, it reduces emotional burnout and makes therapy sustainable long-term.
Let’s be honest the insurance system was not built for the emotional and logistical complexity of raising a child with autism. However, it gets a bit simpler with the correct assistance. “I thought I had to do everything alone,” said Anita. “Once I found a ABA billing services partner that knew how to speak the insurance language, it changed everything. We finally stopped chasing down answers.” Final Words: You’re Not Alone If you’re fighting for your child’s ABA coverage and feel like you’re losing, you’re not alone. Behind every denial is a family just like yours exhausted, confused, and still trying. But here’s the good news: there is help. Ask your provider what support they offer with insurance. Look into ABA billing services. Join support groups. Share stories. Advocate louder. **