Paying for it

Special education and related services in an IEPWhat does IEP mean?? must be free to your family (34 CFR 300.17 and 300.39). A school can charge only the same small fees every student pays. Section 504 services are free too (34 CFR 104.33).

A school can bill Medicaid for health services in an IEP, but it must ask your consent first, and it cannot make you enroll in Medicaid or pay a co-pay (34 CFR 300.154).

If your child is under 21 and has Medicaid, Medicaid must pay for any medically necessary service that federal law lets Medicaid cover, even if your state does not cover it for adults. This is called EPSDT (42 U.S.C. 1396d(r)(5)).

Separate CHIP plans do not have to follow EPSDT. Ask whether your child's coverage is Medicaid or CHIP.

Many states offer Medicaid to children with significant disabilities whatever the parents' income (often called Katie BeckettWhat does Katie Beckett mean?? or TEFRA).

Most states require insurance plans they regulate to cover autism services. Self-funded employer plans may not have to. Ask your plan for its autism and therapy benefits in writing.

Many states have private school scholarships or education savings accounts (ESAs) for students with disabilities.

Read the fine print. When a parent chooses a private school, the child usually gives up the individual right to a free appropriate public education from the district, and the private school does not have to follow the IEP. Many programs ask parents to sign a notice that says so.

• SSI for children: Social Security counts part of the parents' income until 18. At 18, parent income stops counting and Social Security reviews the young adult under adult rules.
• ABLE accounts: tax-advantaged savings for a person whose disability began before age 46 (since 1 January 2026). Up to $100,000 does not count against SSI.
• More on work and benefits at Employment Atlas.