Recent legislative updates have made insurance reimbursement for applied behavior analysts easier and more accessible. Effective April of 2012, Michigan’s Act Number 100 recognized Board Certified Behavior Analysts (BCBA®s) as being eligible for reimbursement when providing behavioral health treatment for clients with autism. While the bill was first introduced with annual reimbursement caps, the latest version of the bill, which went into effect October 15th that same year, eliminated any monetary caps on behavior analysis services for the treatment of autism spectrum disorders.
Under this state law, HMO plans, large employer plans, small employer plans, individual insurance plans, and state employee insurance plans must reimburse autism treatment provided by board-certified ABAs for all covered individuals through age 18 with no monetary limits.
The federal Medicaid program also provides insurance coverage for services provided by BCBA®s, and specifically recognizes them as a professional class. Medicaid guidelines do not place a limit on the number of applied behavior analyst treatment hours eligible for reimbursement. Furthermore it will cover any applied behavior analysis treatment if the provider accepts Medicaid.
Among Michigan’s 10 largest cities, the median salary after 10 years of experience is $64,231. That’s more than a 15 percent increase from the entry-level median salary.
- Dearborn has the highest entry-level median salary in the state, followed by Warren
- With 10 years of experience the city offering the highest median salary is also Dearborn, followed by Warren
- Dearborn has the largest median salary growth over the first decade of practice
Salaries for Experienced Behavior Analyst in Michigan’s Major Cities
Shown here are salary figures for BCBA®s with 10 years of experience in Michigan’s largest cities. Each list provides an overall salary range (from median to 90th-percentile) for behavior analysts with 10 years of experience, followed by the average in each employment sector (December 2016).
Detroit – $65,716 – $86,000
- Private practice – $69,194
- Company – $69,187
- Government – $69,101
- School district – $67,530
- Non-profit – $65,423
Grand Rapids – $60,075 – $78,000
- Company – $64,264
- Private practice – $63,781
- Government – $63,507
- School district – $61,191
- Non-profit – $60,329
Warren – $66,632 – $89,000
- Private practice – $69,374
- Government – $69,209
- Company – $69,182
- School district – $67,715
- Non-profit – $65,502
Sterling Heights – $65,682 – $88,000
- Company – $69,042
- Private practice – $68,825
- Government – $68,820
- School district – $67,176
- Non-profit – $65,004
Ann Arbor – $64,818 – $85,000
- Company – $67,324
- Private practice – $67,188
- Government – $67,139
- School district – $65,500
- Non-profit – $63,606
Lansing – $60,625 – $81,000
- Company – $62,917
- Private practice – $62,426
- Government – $62,181
- School district – $59,854
- Non-profit – $58,968
Flint – $61,816 – $83,000
- Company – $63,876
- Private practice – $63,369
- Government – $63,053
- School district – $60,575
- Non-profit – $59,759
Dearborn – $69,092 – $92,000
- Private practice – $71,876
- Government – $71,830
- Company – $71,419
- School district – $70,787
- Non-profit – $67,864
Livonia – $63,728 – $83,000
- Company – $67,593
- Private practice – $67,362
- Government – $67,225
- School district – $65,347
- Non-profit – $63,779
Troy – $64,122 – $83,000
- Company – $67,093
- Private practice – $67,034
- Government – $66,856
- School district – $65,140
- Non-profit – $63,410
Starting Salaries for Board Certified Behavior Analyst in Michigan by City
Shown here are entry-level BCBA® salary figures for the largest cities in Michigan by sector. Each list provides an overall salary range (from median to 90th-percentile) for each city, followed by the average in each employment sector (December 2016).
Detroit – $51,902 – $68,000
- Company – $54,648
- Private practice – $54,667
- Government – $54,543
- School district – $53,266
- Non-profit – $51,661
Grand Rapids – $48,089 – $62,000
- Company – $51,442
- Private practice – $51,068
- Government – $50,799
- School district – $48,920
- Non-profit – $48,284
Warren – $52,925 – $71,000
- Private practice – $54,755
- Company – $54,589
- Government – $54,574
- School district – $53,350
- Non-profit – $51,667
Sterling Heights – $52,539 – $71,000
- Company – $53,945
- Private practice – $53,788
- Government – $53,745
- School district – $52,427
- Non-profit – $50,777
Ann Arbor – $50,871 – $67,000
- Company – $53,679
- Private practice – $53,584
- Government – $53,500
- School district – $52,166
- Non-profit – $50,708
Lansing – $48,397 – $64,000
- Company – $51,221
- Private practice – $50,836
- Government – $50,579
- School district – $48,661
- Non-profit – $47,997
Flint – $48,787 – $65,000
- Company – $50,546
- Private practice – $50,158
- Government – $49,857
- School district – $47,863
- Non-profit – $47,274
Dearborn – $54,084 – $73,000
- Private practice – $56,058
- Government – $55,972
- Company – $55,686
- School district – $55,105
- Non-profit – $52,892
Livonia – $50,998 – $67,000
- Company – $52,461
- Private practice – $52,293
- Government – $52,155
- School district – $50,665
- Non-profit – $49,492
Troy – $50,984 – $66,000
- Company – $52,966
- Private practice – $52,932
- Government – $52,748
- School district – $51,361
- Non-profit – $50,048
Salary data for entry-level and experienced applied behavior analysts was sourced from PayScale.com in December 2016. Using its daily-updated database of over 54 million salary profiles, PayScale’s proprietary algorithms provide access to real-time salary information.