State Medicaid programs are rolling out unprecedented rate cuts—dropping reimbursement as low as $9.63 per unit ($38.52/hr)—while commercial payors continue to freeze fee schedules, cap supervision, and issue retroactive recoupment audits. Waiting on legislative lobbying won't meet next week's payroll.
In this fast-paced, high-leverage 60-minute executive masterclass, Dan Dube (CEO, ABA Growth Team) demonstrates how to apply behavior-analytic principles to payor relations. Treat unilateral rate reductions and automated denials as maladaptive behaviors to extinguish—and systematically shape health plans into accepting sustainable, higher reimbursement rates.
The mandatory January 1, 2027 AMA Category I CPT code updates (including CPT 97180 for non-face-to-face indirect data analysis and CPT 97173 for direct QHP treatment with analysis) legally force payors to update their electronic claims adjudication engines. This operational requirement creates a rare window of leverage in Q4 2026 to demand a complete contract fee schedule review.
Attendees will leave with actionable, battle-tested operational frameworks to protect working capital, insulate against recoupments, and command defensible commercial rates.
What You Will Learn
Enforce the 15% Margin Floor: Calculate your true loaded cost per billable hour across RBT and BCBA roles (factoring non-billable time, taxes, benefits, drive time, and overhead) and establish hard "walk-away" contract boundaries.
The 2027 CPT Code Catalyst: Learn how to position the mandatory January 1 code overhaul to bypass frontline provider reps and reopen overall contract fee schedules with C-suite payor executives.
The 3-to-5 Year Documentation Scan: Identify and eliminate the top four documentation audit triggers—missing BCBA supervision timestamps, unverified concurrent billing, expired treatment plans, and incomplete parent training notes—before payors launch clawback audits.
Federal Mental Health Parity Enforcement: Deploy Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA) standards against arbitrary 97155 supervision caps, restrictive authorization limits, and sub-floor commercial reimbursement.
The Unilateral Rate Cut Protocol: Execute our structured 4-option response framework (Conditional Notice, Formal Dispute, Client Transition/SCA, or Coalition Petition) when health plans issue take-it-or-leave-it rate reductions.
Your Speaker
Dan Dube
Dan is a serial entrepreneur with 40 years of experience in the healthcare and publishing industries.
In 2005, he was co-founder and CEO of DocZone, a revolutionary cloud-based software platform. DocZone had a successful exit in 2009 after being acquired through a venture capital transaction.
In 2015, Dan became CEO and co-founder of Compass Innovative Behavior Strategies, a behavioral health provider for individuals with Autism and other developmental disabilities. Compass grew to be the largest ABA provider in the state of NH, with over 150 staff, 4 clinics, a private school, and a special needs transportation division. In July 2021, Compass was acquired by a national ABA service provider, and Dan served on their executive team for 2 years overseeing clinical expansion across the country.
In 2023, Dan founded ABA Growth Team, providing executive coaching services, digital marketing consultancy, and a variety of business and clinical e-learning courses, with a focus on serving startup/early stage ABA businesses. Dan specializes in helping ABA businesses to create a strong foundation built on best practices, and to scale in a financially profitable way while maintaining the highest standards of quality and compliance.
Event Details
Date
Monday, November 16, 2026
Time
4:00 PM EST
Duration
60 minutes
Format
Live
Credit
1 Learning CEU
Learning Objectives
1
Calculate the loaded hourly cost of billable technician services and identify the Minimum Acceptable Rate (MAR) using the 15% margin floor rule.
2
Identify at least three major procedural components of the 2027 Category I CPT code update (including CPT 97180 and CPT 97173) that justify formal contract fee schedule amendment requests.
3
Identify the four primary clinical documentation vulnerabilities that trigger multi-year retrospective payor recoupments during billing audits.
4
Describe the four-step response protocol available to ABA practice owners upon receiving a unilateral rate reduction notice from a contracted payor.
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