What is ABA therapy?
ABA stands for Applied Behavior Analysis. It's a therapy — a way of teaching — not a program or an insurance term.
In practice, ABA breaks big skills into small, learnable steps: asking for help, getting dressed, playing alongside another child, staying safe near a street. A behavior technician works with your child one-on-one, a Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA) designs and supervises the plan, and progress is measured with data rather than impressions. With young children, good ABA looks a lot like play, because play is how young children learn.
ABA happens somewhere — at home or in a center — and it happens under some funding arrangement. That second part is where EIDBI comes in.
What is EIDBI?
EIDBI stands for Early Intensive Developmental and Behavioral Intervention. It is not a therapy. It's a Minnesota Health Care Programs benefit — a funding framework that pays for medically necessary treatment, including ABA, for people under 21 with autism or related conditions. (The program runs to age 21; Ability Avenues serves children ages 2–12 within it.)
Think of EIDBI as the answer to "how will we pay for this, and what are the rules?" Under Minnesota DHS's eligibility criteria, a child qualifies for EIDBI services if they:
- Are younger than 21;
- Have a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder or a related condition;
- Have a completed Comprehensive Multi-Disciplinary Evaluation (CMDE) establishing that treatment is medically necessary; and
- Are enrolled in Medical Assistance (MA), MinnesotaCare, or MA under the TEFRA option.
Notice what's not on that list: family income. Because of the TEFRA option, a child can qualify for Medical Assistance based on their own income, not their parents' — which is why EIDBI reaches far more Minnesota families than most people assume. Our EIDBI page walks through the whole path.
EIDBI vs. ABA at a glance
| ABA therapy | EIDBI | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | A therapy method | A Minnesota Medicaid benefit |
| What it does | Teaches skills step by step, with data and reinforcement | Pays for medically necessary therapy and sets the rules around it |
| Who defines it | The clinical field; delivered by provider agencies like ours | The Minnesota Department of Human Services |
| Who it's for | Anyone whose care team recommends it | Minnesotans under 21 who meet the four criteria above |
| Where you'll see it | Treatment plans, session notes, provider websites | Insurance paperwork, county letters, DHS forms |
One sentence to keep: EIDBI is how Minnesota pays; ABA is one of the things it pays for.
Does EIDBI only pay for ABA?
No — and this is the detail that surprises many parents. EIDBI currently approves four treatment approaches (DHS calls them modalities):
- ABA — the most widely available, and the one Ability Avenues provides
- Early Start Denver Model (ESDM) — a play-based approach for toddlers and preschoolers
- DIR/Floortime — a developmental, relationship-based approach
- RDI — Relationship Development Intervention, a parent-led approach
This list changed recently: effective July 1, 2025, the Legislature removed the PLAY Project and Early Social Interaction from the approved list, and DHS can't add new modalities without legislative action. If a provider offers a modality you don't see above, it's fair — and smart — to ask how it's covered.
What does the difference mean when you're choosing a provider?
It means you're really making two decisions, and it helps to keep them separate:
- The funding decision — getting your child eligible for EIDBI: a qualifying diagnosis, the CMDE, and enrollment in MA, MinnesotaCare, or MA-TEFRA. This is between your family, your county, and the state.
- The treatment decision — which provider, which modality, which setting. This is where you compare agencies, ask about their approach, and trust your read of the people.
When you talk to any provider (including us), the EIDBI-shaped questions worth asking are: Are you an enrolled EIDBI provider? Which modality do you deliver? Which health plans do you bill? Ability Avenues delivers ABA and bills Straight MA and Blue Plus — the details are on our insurance page.
What does the paperwork actually look like?
EIDBI comes with a documented chain, and knowing it ahead of time makes every letter you receive less mysterious:
- CMDE — the Comprehensive Multi-Disciplinary Evaluation establishes that treatment is medically necessary. It's performed by an independent, state-qualified evaluator — not by the therapy provider — and it's the document everything else builds on. Here's what a CMDE involves.
- ITP — your therapy provider turns the CMDE's findings into an Individual Treatment Plan: measurable goals, hours, setting, and how progress will be tracked.
- Services and progress reviews — therapy runs, data is collected, and the plan is re-authorized on a regular cycle using the CMDE and ITP as evidence.
For the family, the billing side is quiet: covered EIDBI services are billed to your child's MA or MinnesotaCare coverage, and children under 21 on MA have no copays for covered services. Your main jobs are getting the evaluation done and keeping your child's coverage active at renewal time.
Frequently asked questions
Do we have to choose between EIDBI and ABA?
No — they aren't competing options. EIDBI is the Minnesota benefit that pays; ABA is one of the therapies it pays for. A child in Minnesota typically receives ABA therapy funded through EIDBI. The real choices you make are the provider, the treatment approach, and the setting.
Does EIDBI cover therapies other than ABA?
Yes. EIDBI currently approves four treatment approaches: ABA, the Early Start Denver Model (ESDM), DIR/Floortime, and RDI. Two others — the PLAY Project and Early Social Interaction — were removed from the approved list on July 1, 2025.
Is therapy through EIDBI free for our family?
For covered EIDBI services, children under 21 on Medical Assistance have no copays. Children under 21 on MinnesotaCare have no copays either, though some families pay a small income-based monthly premium for the coverage itself. The child has to meet EIDBI's eligibility criteria first, including the evaluation step.
Can my child get ABA without EIDBI?
Yes. Minnesota requires large-employer health plans to cover medically necessary autism treatment, including ABA, and some families pay privately. Ability Avenues bills Straight Medical Assistance and Blue Plus; whether a commercial plan covers ABA depends on that specific plan, so call us and we'll help you sort out your situation.
If you're sorting out EIDBI and ABA for your own child, you don't have to decode it alone — call or message us and we'll help you figure out where your family stands, whether or not you ever enroll with us. If you're ready to start, here's how intake works.
Related reading: The EIDBI benefit, step by step · Insurance and paying for therapy · The parent's glossary