In a 2012 December solstice announcement the governor declared a new insurance coverage policy for the diagnosis and treatment of autism. It specifically references coverage for applied behavior analysis (ABA) treatments, effectively guaranteeing steady funding for these when provided by qualified professionals like Board Certified Behavior Analysts (BCBA®s).
Specifics of the governor’s policy include:
- Occupational therapy and psychiatric care for autism are covered, including ABA treatments
- Up to 20 hours of ABA treatment is reimbursed every week
- Up to 20 visits per year to speech, occupation, and language therapists are covered
Insurance plans that must expand their coverage to include autism treatment and diagnoses include:
- State employee health insurance plans – in 2012 this meant mandatory coverage for the state’s 176,137 state employees plus their families
- Health insurance plans sold on the private market
- Health insurance plans sold on the exchange market required under the Affordable Care Act
- The treatment and diagnosis of autism spectrum disorders is defined as an essential health benefit
This ensures virtually all Ohio’s autistic children have access to reimbursed treatment by BCBA®s. Before this insurance policy was announced only about 40 percent of the state’s children were covered, according to the news outlet Cleveland.com.
Right now in Ohio, with 10 years of experience BCBA®s earn an average salary of $58,698. Comparing this with the average entry-level salary shows that BCBA®s earn on average more than a $1,000 salary increase per year over their first decade of employment.
- The highest median salary for entry-level BCBA®s is in Cincinnati, followed by Dayton and Columbus
- The highest median salary for BCBA®s with 10 years of experience is in Cincinnati, followed by Akron and Toledo
- The sector with the highest average salary for BCBA®s is company, followed by private practice and government
- Akron has the largest median salary increase for BCBA®s over their first 10 years of employment
Salaries for Experienced Behavior Analyst in Ohio’s Major Cities
Shown here are salary figures for BCBA®s with 10-years of experience in Ohio’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).
Columbus – $60,159 – $78,000
- Company – $63,943
- Private practice – $63,603
- Government – $63,444
- School district – $61,447
- Non-profit – $60,167
Cleveland – $59,987 – $78,000
- Company – $62,435
- Private practice – $62,113
- Government – $61,953
- School district – $59,981
- Non-profit – $58,744
Cincinnati – $61,260 – $80,000
- Company – $64,935
- Private practice – $64,604
- Government – $64,501
- School district – $62,595
- Non-profit – $61,137
Toledo – $60,174 – $80,000
- Company – $62,872
- Private practice – $62,296
- Government – $62,052
- School district – $59,636
- Non-profit – $58,793
Akron – $60,229 – $78,000
- Company – $63,125
- Private practice – $62,666
- Government – $62,359
- School district – $60,016
- Non-profit – $59,183
Dayton – $59,489 – $78,000
- Company – $62,643
- Private practice – $62,175
- Government – $62,015
- School district – $59,869
- Non-profit – $58,781
Parma – $58,998 – $81,000
- Company – $60,521
- Private practice – $59,802
- Government – $59,644
- School district – $57,296
- Non-profit – $56,346
Canton – $55,504 – $73,000
- Company – $59,745
- Private practice – $59,095
- Government – $58,766
- School district – $56,181
- Non-profit – $55,757
Youngstown – $55,175 – $73,000
- Company – $59,826
- Private practice – $59,100
- Government – $58,601
- School district – $55,669
- Non-profit – $55,658
Lorain – $56,008 – $74,000
- Company – $59,173
- Private practice – $58,357
- Government – $57,915
- School district – $54,993
- Non-profit – $54,981
Starting Salaries for Board Certified Behavior Analyst in Ohio by City
Shown here are entry-level BCBA® salary figures for the largest cities in Ohio 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).
Columbus – $48,392 – $63,000
- Company – $50,235
- Private practice – $49,978
- Government – $49,820
- School district – $48,226
- Non-profit – $47,261
Cleveland – $48,215 – $63,000
- Company – $51,267
- Private practice – $51,016
- Government – $50,826
- School district – $49,185
- Non-profit – $48,228
Cincinnati – $49,587 – $65,000
- Company – $51,219
- Private practice – $50,969
- Government – $50,852
- School district – $49,318
- Non-profit – $48,214
Toledo – $47,826 – $64,000
- Company – $50,211
- Private practice – $49,765
- Government – $49,521
- School district – $47,554
- Non-profit – $46,938
Akron – $47,170 – $61,000
- Company – $50,451
- Private practice – $50,097
- Government – $49,801
- School district – $47,894
- Non-profit – $47,286
Dayton – $49,071 – $65,000
- Company – $50,918
- Private practice – $50,552
- Government – $50,372
- School district – $48,596
- Non-profit – $47,768
Parma – $46,534 – $64,000
- Company – $48,506
- Private practice – $47,942
- Government – $47,768
- School district – $45,856
- Non-profit – $45,147
Canton – $46,423 – $62,000
- Company – $49,321
- Private practice – $48,800
- Government – $48,466
- School district – $46,304
- Non-profit – $46,017
Youngstown – $45,099 – $60,000
- Company – $47,747
- Private practice – $47,180
- Government – $46,730
- Non-profit – $44,407
- School district – $44,363
Lorain – $45,375 – $60,000
- Company – $48,058
- Private practice – $47,409
- Government – $46,998
- Non-profit – $44,635
- School district – $44,586
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.