State guide

Louisiana

Programs, dollars, and people that serve autism families in Louisiana. Federal protections always apply on top of what you see here.

Louisiana overview

Louisiana's Office for Citizens with Developmental Disabilities (OCDD) administers the New Opportunities Waiver (NOW) and Supports Waiver. Apply through your regional Human Services Authority (HSA) — waitlists are significant and the clock starts at application. For early intervention, Louisiana's Early Steps program is the first contact for children under three. Families Helping Families is a statewide network of parent-run centers that provide navigation support and also functions within the PTI network. The Autism Society of Greater Baton Rouge and FEAT of Louisiana provide community connection.

Verify program names, URLs, and eligibility on official .gov sites — these change.

⏰ Act now — Medicaid waiver waitlist

New Opportunities Waiver (NOW), Children's Choice and Supports Waivers

Typical wait: Years — but urgency of need outranks your date on the registry

Get onto the Request for Services Registry, then ask for a Screening for Urgency of Need. Louisiana must schedule that screening within 10 business days of your request.

Louisiana ranks by assessed urgency, not by date. The SUN screening is the step that decides your position.

Apply or learn more →Compare all 50 states

Statewide resources

These four programs exist in every state and are the fastest entry points for most families.

Early Intervention (Birth to 3)

Louisiana Early Steps

(800) 922-5151

Part C IDEA services for children under 3. Apply immediately after diagnosis.

State Autism Organization

Louisiana Autism Spectrum Disorders Resources

State-level autism advocacy, family support, and community connection.

Insurance Coverage

Whether private insurance must cover autism treatment in Louisiana.

Louisiana requires insurance to cover autism treatment

La. R.S. § 22:1050 · enacted 2008

Ages:
Under 21, for plans issued or renewed from 1 January 2014. The original 2009 version stopped at 17 — if you are reading an older summary, it is describing a superseded law.
Limits:
$36,000 a year. The $144,000 LIFETIME maximum that appeared in the original version is gone from the current text. Payments for anything unrelated to autism do not count toward the annual maximum, and there are no limits at all on the number of visits to an autism services provider.

Self-funded employer plans (ERISA) are typically exempt — ask your HR department which type of plan you have.

How to use it, and how to appeal a denial →

Medicaid Waiver

Home and community-based services (HCBS) for autism families in Louisiana.

New Opportunities Waiver (NOW), Children's Choice and Supports Waivers

Louisiana Department of Health, Office for Citizens with Developmental Disabilities (OCDD), through local governing entities and Human Services Authorities

Louisianans meeting the state definition of a developmental disability manifested before age 22, who also meet ICF/ID level-of-care criteria.

How autism qualifies

Autism qualifies as a developmental disability. The Children's Choice waiver explicitly names autism and serves ages birth to 20; the New Opportunities Waiver serves any age and is the more comprehensive of the two, with no annual per-person cap on services.

Age rules

Children's Choice covers birth through age 20. NOW has no age limit. The disability must have manifested before age 22.

What it can pay for

  • Support coordination
  • Center-based and in-home respite
  • Family support and family training
  • Specialized medical equipment and supplies
  • Environmental accessibility adaptations
  • Housing stabilization services
  • Music, art and aquatic therapy
  • Sensory integration
  • Therapeutic horseback riding and hippotherapy

How the waiting list is ordered

Louisiana keeps a Request for Services Registry, and your request date is recorded — but the date is not what moves you. After you are on the registry, OCDD schedules a Screening for Urgency of Need, a face-to-face or virtual assessment of what your child's unmet needs are and how urgent they are. That screening is what determines your position. Two things follow. First, getting onto the registry early still matters, because it is the precondition for everything else and you can ring 1-866-783-5553 to confirm your recorded request date. Second, and more importantly, the screening is the moment to be complete and unsparing about what is not working — the behaviour you manage alone, the nights nobody sleeps, the care that falls apart if one adult gets ill. Families who describe themselves as coping get scored as coping. You are entitled to have the SUN scheduled within ten business days of asking for it.

How to apply

Contact your local governing entity or Human Services Authority for an eligibility determination. Once found eligible for OCDD services, ask to be placed on the Developmental Disability Request for Services Registry, then request a Screening for Urgency of Need. Call 1-866-783-5553 to confirm your request date.

1-866-783-5553Full Louisiana waiver detail and sources →

Verified August 2026 against 3 official sources.

Medicaid Managed Care

How Medicaid pays for ABA therapy in Louisiana.

Healthy Louisiana (Louisiana Medicaid managed care; LaCHIP is the children's CHIP program)

ABA covered: Under 21 (birth up to 21)

Find or choose your plan

Healthy Louisiana enrollment line

(855) 229-6848Official page →

Plans in this state

  • Aetna Better Health
  • AmeriHealth Caritas Louisiana
  • Humana Healthy Horizons in Louisiana
  • Louisiana Healthcare Connections
1 more — see Louisiana's full plan list →

Louisiana Medicaid covers ABA from birth up to age 21 with a comprehensive diagnostic evaluation and a prescription, and prior authorization is required; your provider submits the request. Healthy Blue leaves Healthy Louisiana on December 31, 2026: its members can choose a new plan from October 15 to November 16, 2026, or one will be assigned. If your plan cannot help you find an evaluation provider, contact the Louisiana Department of Health.

⚠️ Prior authorization is required before starting ABA services.

Checked against 5 official sources, September 2026. Plans change when states rebid contracts, so confirm with the state.

Louisiana guides

Deeper guides where the facts are genuinely specific to Louisiana.

Financial help for autism in Louisiana

SSI, Medicaid, the waiver and what insurers must cover — and which to apply for first.

Autism evaluation in Louisiana

The two free routes, the deadlines they run against, and verified diagnostic providers.

ABA therapy in Louisiana

Verified providers, what the state mandate covers, and the questions to ask.

Louisiana insurance mandate

The statute, the caps, and how to complain when a plan ignores it.

By county

64 counties