AUSTIN — Texas health officials are proposing to eliminate state funding for a program that helps families afford autism therapy, a move advocates warn could leave children without services even as providers report lengthy waitlists. The Texas Health and Human Services Commission included the proposed cut in its budget request for the 2028–29 biennium. The Children’s Autism Program contracts with 16 providers statewide to offer applied behavior analysis, or ABA, therapy at reduced cost based on a family’s income and insurance coverage. Eligible children can receive up to 720 hours of therapy over their lifetime. The proposal comes after Gov. Greg Abbott, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and House Speaker Dustin Burrows directed state agencies and other institutions to reduce spending by 3% in the next biennium. HHSC said its reductions focused on services with the lowest direct impact on clients and on limiting effects on federal funding. The agency’s budget request also recognizes that demand for autism services exceeds the supply of qualified providers, particularly in rural areas, and that insurance coverage does not ensure families can find a provider. If lawmakers approve the proposed elimination, HHSC says children could continue receiving services through August 2027. The program served 583 children in fiscal year 2026. Contractors estimate at least 1,000 more children are on statewide waitlists. Over the past two years, Texas spent $13.7 million on the program; this year, the state expanded eligibility to people up to age 21 and removed an annual limit on therapy hours. The proposal has alarmed families who depend on the program to bridge gaps in private insurance and Medicaid. Medicaid began covering ABA therapy for people 20 and younger in 2022, but families without insurance and people enrolled in some self-funded plans may not have that coverage. Advocates also say low Medicaid reimbursement rates can make it difficult to find providers who accept Medicaid patients. Elizabeth Solis, whose two sons receive services through a program supported by state funding, said therapy helped her 7-year-old son Israel, who is nonverbal, communicate using pictures. “If the doors just completely close to access that at all, you just feel like it’s all caving in on you,” she said. At the University of Houston-Clear Lake’s Center for Autism and Developmental Disabilities, 41 families received therapy through CAP-affiliated programs last year, and about 200 more were waiting, center director Dorothea Lerman said. The center does not have the infrastructure to bill Medicaid or private insurance, she said, and would need to find another funding source before its state-supported programs shut down. Autism Society of Texas executive director Jacquie Benestante said advocates were surprised to see the program omitted from the proposed budget. Jolene Pohl, advocacy director for the Coalition of Texans with Disabilities, said expanding Medicaid coverage alone would not fill the access gaps. She argued that timely therapy could prevent greater costs to the state later. The Legislature will decide whether to adopt the proposed budget. Until then, the planned elimination is not final, but families and providers are facing uncertainty about whether affordable services will remain available after August 2027.