ABA Medicaid rates in Kentucky are below the national median for technician therapy: Kentucky Medicaid pays $48.72 an hour for code 97153, ranking 35th of 42 states and 23.2% below the national median of $63.44. The rate is $12.18 per 15-minute unit on the Department for Medicaid Services (DMS) fee schedule, effective 2026-04-01.
Kentucky's schedule is split across two dates and two structures. The technician codes were updated in April 2026 and share one unit rate; the analyst codes carry modifier AH and date to 2020-01-01. And Kentucky has a managed-care rule written specifically for applied behavior analysis. All rates are compiled from official Kentucky Medicaid publications and link to their source documents on the Kentucky Medicaid rates hub.
Kentucky Medicaid ABA reimbursement by code
| Code | Per 15 min | Per hour | Rank | Effective |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 97153 technician therapy | $12.18 | $48.72 | 35 of 42 | 2026-04-01 |
| 97152 technician assessment support | $12.18 | $48.72 | 25 of 29 | 2026-04-01 |
| 97154 technician-led group | $12.18 | $48.72 | 9 of 37 | 2026-04-01 |
| 97155 analyst plan changes (AH) | $21.59 | not ranked | n/a | 2020-01-01 |
| 97151 analyst assessment (AH) | $21.59 | not ranked | n/a | 2020-01-01 |
| 97156 caregiver training (AH) | $16.75 | not ranked | n/a | 2020-01-01 |
Analyst-led groups (97158, modifier AH) pay $8.48 per 15 minutes, also effective 2020-01-01 and not ranked.
The AH-modified analyst rates are not included in the national hourly ranking, so they should be compared with care. Agencies budgeting BCBA time in Kentucky should confirm the unit and modifier requirements for each analyst code in the DMS schedule, since the analyst rates have not been re-dated since 2020. Nationally, the median for 97155 is $101.04 an hour, for 97151 $116.56 and for 97156 $94.80.
Technician rate below the median, group rate well above it
Kentucky pays one rate, $12.18 per 15 minutes, for individual technician therapy, technician-assisted assessment and technician-led groups. The effect on rankings is striking:
- On 97153, $48.72 an hour is 35th of 42, 23.2% below the national median.
- On 97152, the same hourly figure is 25th of 29, 36.8% below the national median of $77.04.
- On 97154, the same figure is 9th of 37, 62.6% above the national median of $29.96.
Group rates are paid per patient, so a state that pays its full individual rate for groups is unusually generous on group work. Kentucky's approach mirrors the one used by Georgia and Iowa at a lower base rate. For an agency, technician-led groups are one of the few areas where Kentucky's schedule beats most of the country, and they can lift the blended revenue per technician hour when clinically appropriate.
Labor costs and the margin on a technician hour
Kentucky's wage data sits well below national levels. The median wage for the closest comparable technician occupation was $18.00 an hour in May 2025, against $22.08 nationally; the analyst proxy was $26.05, against $28.53. Both are proxy occupations and understate pay for credentialed RBTs and BCBAs.
On the technician codes, wages take 52.5% of the $48.72 rate, leaving $23.14 an hour after a loaded wage. That applies equally to 97153 and 97152.
A $23.14 margin is thin. It has to cover travel, cancellations, non-billable supervision, training and administration. Lower local wages help, but they do not close the gap with states paying near or above the median. Group sessions, paid at the same hourly rate per participant, are the clearest lever for improving technician-hour economics in Kentucky.
Prior authorization on Kentucky ABA codes
The coverage rules on file list four prior-authorization rules for every ABA code, 97151 through 97158, and no published unit limits. That uniformity makes Kentucky's authorization process predictable: the same set of conditions applies whether the service is an assessment, technician therapy, analyst treatment, caregiver training or group work. Agencies can build a single authorization workflow for all ABA services.
Managed care: Kentucky's ABA-specific rule
Kentucky's managed-care rules include a line specifically for applied behavior analysis, and the rule is "Plans negotiate; the published rate applies out of network." The broader behavioral health line follows the same rule.
For ABA providers, the DMS fee schedule on this page is the benchmark and the out-of-network rate. In-network rates are set by each plan's contract, so the same 97153 hour may pay differently from plan to plan. Fifteen plans are on file; the Kentucky managed-care page lists them and the rule for each service line.
Kentucky's programs on file also include the Michelle P. waiver and the Supports for Community Living (SCL) waiver, whose rates are listed separately on the state page.
How Kentucky compares with the top and bottom states
On 97153, Kentucky's $48.72 sits in the lower part of the table. Alaska pays $127.80, Georgia $123.64 and Iowa $114.36, while Louisiana pays $40.00 and New York $38.52. The national ABA rates hub compares every state per hour, and our methodology explains why some rates, such as Kentucky's AH-modified analyst codes, are left out of the ranking.
Updated 2026-10-05