How to start an ABA practice in Florida

Florida does not require a state license for an ABA practice, according to None for behavior analyst licensure. Medicaid enrollment: Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA). Health care clinic licensing: AHCA Bureau of Health Facility Regulation.. No state behavior analyst license — Florida; Medicaid enrolls BCBA lead analysts, BCaBAs, RBTs and Behavior Analysis Groups (clinic license no longer required for Medicaid providers).

License required

No

Issuing agency

None for behavior analyst licensure. Medicaid enrollment: Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA). Health care clinic licensing: AHCA Bureau of Health Facility Regulation.

Insurance and bonds

Behavior Analysis Groups must submit a surety bond for Medicaid enrollment (amount not stated in the enrollment appendix).

Professional license

statute: s. 393.17, F.S. (APD may establish certification and must recognize national behavior analyst certification); s. 400.9905(4)(q), F.S.; behavior analyst: Florida has no behavior analyst licensure law. Under s. 393.17 the Agency for Persons with Disabilities may set up a certification process and must recognize certification from a national nonprofit credentialing body. Medicaid accepts BCBA/BCBA-D, FL-CBA, or certain Florida licenses (LCSW, LMHC, LMFT, psychologist, school psychologist) for lead analysts.; assistant behavior analyst: No state license. Medicaid enrolls BCaBAs (specialty 391) as group members.; technician: No state license, but Florida Medicaid requires technicians to hold BACB RBT certification and enroll individually (specialty 390) as group members.; agency or clinic license: Since July 1, 2020, Medicaid providers are exempt from health care clinic licensure (s. 400.9905(4)(q), F.S.). AHCA stopped requiring Behavior Analysis Groups to show a clinic license or exemption for Medicaid enrollment. ABA groups outside Medicaid may still fall under the general Health Care Clinic Act unless another exemption applies, for example practitioner-owned. A voluntary exemption certificate is available.; medicaid enrollment: Provider type 39, Behavior Analysis. Lead analysts and groups are high-risk: fingerprinting and site visits apply. Groups need a surety bond and at least one enrolled lead analyst.

Regulation

s. 393.17, F.S.; s. 400.9905, F.S.; Rule 59G-1.060, F.A.C. (Florida Medicaid Provider Enrollment Policy)

1. Hold BACB credentials: BCBA/BCBA-D (or FL-CBA, or a qualifying Florida license) for lead analysts, BCaBA for assistants, RBT for technicians
2. Enroll each practitioner with Florida Medicaid as provider type 39 (specialty 392 lead analyst, 391 assistant, 390 RBT); assistants and RBTs enroll as members of a group
3. Enroll the Behavior Analysis Group (specialty 393) with a surety bond; it must employ or contract at least one Medicaid-enrolled lead analyst, added through AHCA Form 5000-1061
4. Complete fingerprinting for all persons disclosed on the application
5. Expect site visits: behavior analysis lead analysts and groups are high categorical risk

Program

Florida Medicaid (Agency for Health Care Administration)

Enrollment portal

Florida Medicaid Web Portal (FLMMIS) — Enrollment Wizard

Fiscal agent

Gainwell Technologies (Florida Medicaid Web Portal / FLMMIS)

Application fee

Federal rule (42 CFR 455.460): the state must collect the CMS application fee from institutional providers that are newly enrolling or re-enrolling; individual physicians and non-physician practitioners are exempt, as are providers already enrolled in (or that already paid the fee to) Medicare or another state's Medicaid/CHIP. CMS set the fee at $750 for calendar year 2026.

Fingerprinting

Florida also requires Level 2 background screening (fingerprint-based, under s. 408.809, F.S.) as part of enrollment and revalidation. Federal rule (42 CFR 455.434, 455.450(c)): providers the state places in the 'high' categorical risk level, and anyone owning 5% or more of such a provider, must submit fingerprints for a criminal background check.

Site visit

AHCA assigns each provider type a limited, moderate or high risk level under 42 CFR 455.450. Federal rule (42 CFR 455.432, 455.450(b)-(c)): the state must do site visits before and after enrollment for providers in the 'moderate' or 'high' risk levels, and any enrolled provider must allow unannounced on-site inspections.

Revalidation

Florida calls revalidation 'renewal': AHCA re-enrolls every provider at least every five years, mailing a notice about 90 days before the provider agreement expires. Claims suspend if the online renewal is not finished by the expiration date. Federal rule (42 CFR 455.414): every enrolled provider must be revalidated at least once every 5 years.

Full Florida Medicaid enrollment guide →

CON program

Yes

Program

Certificate of Need

Agency

Florida Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA)

Services covered

• community nursing homes / skilled nursing facility beds
• hospice programs and hospice inpatient facilities
• intermediate care facilities for the developmentally disabled (ICF/DD)
• conversion from one type of covered facility to another

Florida certificate of need details →

State minimum wage

$15.00 an hour

Effective

2026-09-30

Scheduled increases

Stays $15.00 from 2026-09-30 through 2027-12-31; annual inflation adjustments resume with a September 2027 calculation that takes effect the following January 1.

Direct-care wage floor

The 2022-23 General Appropriations Act funded Medicaid fee schedule and managed care rate increases for the sole purpose of raising wages of Medicaid providers' direct care employees (including 1099 workers) to at least $15/hour.

HCBS 80/20 rule

Federal baseline: 42 CFR 441.302(k) requires the state to show that each provider spends at least 80% of Medicaid payments for homemaker, home health aide and personal care services under 1915(c) waivers on direct care worker pay and benefits. Compliance starts 2030-07-09 (for managed care, the first rating period starting on or after that date); annual payment-adequacy reporting under 441.311(e) starts 2028-07-09. A state may set a lower share for state-defined small providers and exempt providers facing hardship, each only through a public notice-and-comment process. The eCFR text has not changed since 2024-07-09. No state-published 80/20 implementation step (small-provider criteria, hardship exemption or reporting guidance) was found for this state in the official sources reviewed.

Applied behavior analysis organizations — active organization NPIs (NPPES)

5,620 (as of Sep 13, 2026)

Total Medicaid and CHIP enrollment (latest reported month)

3,565,369 (as of Jun 1, 2026)

All Florida ABA Medicaid rates, ranked →

• Familial Dysautonomia Waiver (1915(c))
• Developmental Disabilities Individual Budgeting Waiver (1915(c))
• Comprehensive Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Managed Care Pilot Program (1915(c))
• Long-Term Care Waiver (1915(c))
• Model Waiver (1915(c))

Florida waivers and waiting lists →