Submitted by Office of State Rep. Victoria Garcia Wilburn
On Thursday, State Rep. Maureen Bauer (D-South Bend) and State Rep. Victoria Garcia Wilburn (D-Fishers), both members of the Indiana House Public Health Committee, called on Governor Mike Braun to end what they call the secrecy surrounding his newly created Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) Therapy working group.
The “organized working group,” established through Executive Order 25-31 amid rising Medicaid costs, is tasked with reviewing autism therapy service expenses in Indiana. However, lawmakers are concerned with how it is being carried out.
Garcia Wilburn submitted a formal letter requesting to serve on the working group but received no response. In a more recent development, the lawmakers confirmed that members are required to sign non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) in order to participate – an unprecedented step for such a policy review, effectively keeping the process hidden from both legislators and the public.
“Autism services are too important for closed-door politics,” Garcia Wilburn said. “This should be an open, bipartisan conversation, not one limited by NDAs. Hoosier families deserve to know what’s at stake and how decisions are being made. Especially when those decisions are being justified as cost-cutting fiscal conservatism, instead of centered on children’s needs.”
“This is not the time to shut out voices or restrict information,” Bauer and Garcia Wilburn said in a joint statement. “We call on Gov. Braun to open the doors of this working group, invite bipartisan input, and put Hoosier families first.”