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TRICARE Autism Care in Florida: What DHA's Reports Show

In the most recent state-by-state count the Defense Health Agency has published, 1,537 TRICARE beneficiaries in Florida were taking part in the Autism Care Demonstration, the program through which TRICARE covers applied behavior analysis (September 30, 2022). That was 9.9% of the 15,493 participants nationwide and the fourth-highest count of any state, after Texas, California and Virginia.

By Hope Center for Behavior Change · Published November 12, 2026 · Every figure checked against its source on November 12, 2026

Key numbers

  • 1,537Florida participants in TRICARE's Autism Care Demonstration on September 30, 2022, the latest state figure DHA has publishedDHA quarterly report to Congress, FY 2022 Q4
  • 9.9%of all participants nationwide (15,493) were in Florida, the fourth-highest share of any stateDHA quarterly report to Congress, FY 2022 Q4
  • 195new Florida referrals for ABA in July to September 2022, up from 120 in July to September 2020DHA quarterly reports to Congress on the Autism Care Demonstration
  • 39days, Florida's average that quarter from referral to an initial ABA assessment appointment; TRICARE's standard is 28 daysDHA quarterly report to Congress, FY 2022 Q4
  • 17,603participants nationwide in fiscal year 2024, up 10.0% from fiscal year 2019DHA Annual Report on the Autism Care Demonstration, April 2026

Florida’s count, quarter by quarter

For a time, the Defense Health Agency’s (DHA) quarterly reports to Congress on the Autism Care Demonstration included tables by state. We read Florida’s row in all 9 such reports DHA has posted on health.mil, for the quarters ending September 30, 2020 through September 30, 2022.

Florida participants in TRICARE's Autism Care Demonstration, end of each quarter

Source: DHA quarterly reports to Congress on the Autism Care Demonstration, Table 2 of each report.

TRICARE Autism Care Demonstration: Florida and all states, by quarter
As ofFlorida participantsAll participantsFlorida shareNew Florida referrals in the quarter
September 30, 20201,53115,8089.7%120
December 31, 20201,51715,6959.7%97
March 31, 20211,56416,1029.7%123
June 30, 20211,58616,1499.8%125
September 30, 20211,60617,4719.2%105
December 31, 20211,52317,3248.8%157
March 31, 20221,50616,4939.1%182
June 30, 20221,50115,5539.7%163
September 30, 20221,53715,4939.9%195
  • Florida’s count held steady. It stayed between 1,501 and 1,606 in every quarter, and the count on September 30, 2022 (1,537) was 6 higher than on September 30, 2020 (1,531). Florida’s share of all participants ranged from 8.8% to 9.9%.Source: DHA quarterly reports to Congress on the Autism Care Demonstration. Period: Quarters ending September 30, 2020 to September 30, 2022
  • Four states held 46.5% of participants. On September 30, 2022: Texas 2,023, California 1,992, Virginia 1,659, Florida 1,537, out of 15,493 nationwide.Source: DHA quarterly report to Congress, FY 2022 Q4. Period: July 1 to September 30, 2022
  • New referrals rose. Florida families received 1,267 new referrals for ABA under the demonstration across the 9 quarters, from 120 in July to September 2020 to 195 in July to September 2022 (9.7% of the 2,019 referrals nationwide that quarter). DHA notes that a referral is one step and does not always lead to enrollment.Source: DHA quarterly reports to Congress on the Autism Care Demonstration. Period: Quarters ending September 30, 2020 to September 30, 2022
  • Time to an initial appointment. For July to September 2022, DHA reported that the average time in Florida from a verified referral to the initial appointment for an ABA assessment was 39 days. TRICARE’s access-to-care standard for specialty care is 28 days. This is a statewide average across providers, not any one provider’s figure.Source: DHA quarterly report to Congress, FY 2022 Q4. Period: July 1 to September 30, 2022

The program nationwide

DHA’s annual reports count each beneficiary who had a claim filed during the fiscal year (October to September). The quarterly counts above are beneficiaries with an active authorization on one day, so the two series measure different things.

TRICARE Autism Care Demonstration participants nationwide, by fiscal year
Fiscal yearParticipants
FY 201916,004
FY 202016,313
FY 202116,689
FY 202216,360
FY 202316,776
FY 202417,603
  • Participants nationwide rose 10.0% from fiscal year 2019 (16,004) to fiscal year 2024 (17,603). Most are children: 89.0% of participants in fiscal year 2024 were 13 or younger.Source: DHA Annual Report on the Autism Care Demonstration, April 2026. Period: Fiscal years 2019 to 2024 (October to September); claims data as of August 1, 2025
  • Being enrolled is not the same as getting therapy in a given quarter. Of the 15,493 participants with an active authorization on September 30, 2022, 11,882 had a claim filed during the quarter. DHA wrote that 23% “likely did not receive any ABA services during the quarter,” and that late claims may explain part of the gap.Source: DHA quarterly report to Congress, FY 2022 Q4. Period: July 1 to September 30, 2022

Where the program stands

  • TRICARE covers ABA through the Autism Care Demonstration, not as part of its regular medical benefit. The demonstration began on July 25, 2014, and tricare.mil says it is currently authorized to run through December 31, 2028 (page last updated September 21, 2026).Source: tricare.mil, Autism Care Demonstration. Period: Checked November 12, 2026
  • A 2025 National Academies review of the program concluded that ABA “should be formally authorized as a TRICARE Basic benefit,” meaning regular TRICARE coverage. DHA’s April 2026 report to Congress cites that review and announces no change to the program.Source: National Academies, 2025. Period: Published September 2025
  • DHA has posted no state tables since its FY 2022 Q4 report (posted July 17, 2023). Its annual reports since then (January 2024, August 2025 and April 2026) give national figures, not state ones, so there is no newer public count for Florida.Source: DHA Annual Report on the Autism Care Demonstration, April 2026. Period: Fiscal years 2019 to 2024 (October to September); claims data as of August 1, 2025

For what the 2028 date means and what families can do now, see our guide to the Autism Care Demonstration after 2028.

What this means for military families in Florida

  • These are statewide counts. DHA does not publish figures by county or base, so this page cannot say how many families near MacDill Air Force Base, in Tampa Bay or in Palm Beach County take part. Our guide for MacDill families covers getting started in the Tampa area.
  • Keep the paperwork current. ABA under TRICARE needs a referral and pre-authorization; each authorization covers six months, and a new referral is needed every two years. Our step-by-step guide to the Autism Care Demonstration in Florida and referral renewal checklist explain each step.
  • Ask about timing. The statewide average is not your family’s wait. When you call providers, ask when they could do the initial assessment and start services.
  • Active duty families also need EFMP and ECHO enrollment; see our TRICARE ECHO guide. Hope Center for Behavior Change works with TRICARE families; see our TRICARE ABA page.

Method, sources and limits

We read Table 1 (new referrals) and Table 2 (participants) for Florida and all states in each of DHA’s 9 quarterly reports with state tables, and Table 3 (average wait) in the latest one. Participants are beneficiaries with an active authorization at the end of the quarter; new referrals are counted over the quarter. The latest report is a scanned document, so we typed its tables from the page images and checked that each adds up to its printed total; we then re-read them with machine OCR. National fiscal-year totals come from DHA’s April 2026 annual report. Shares and changes are our calculations. We checked every figure on November 12, 2026; the scripts and extracted tables are kept with the page’s code.

  • DHA’s tables are not perfect. In two reports (quarters ending September 30, 2021 and December 31, 2021) the state rows in DHA’s Table 2 do not add up to the printed total, because some rows in the second and third columns are out of line. Florida’s row is in the left-hand column and lines up; we checked it against the page images. In every other quarter, Table 2 adds up exactly.
  • Claims arrive late. DHA says its quarterly figures may be underreported because of delays in receiving claims.
  • Definitions shifted. DHA revised its reporting after a March 2021 policy update, and the wording of the wait-time measure changed between reports, so we show the wait for the latest quarter alone.
  • Age of the data. The Florida figures end in 2022 because DHA has published no state figures since. We will update this page if it does.
  • Retrieval: our build read the Internet Archive’s copies of DHA’s reports; for our check we downloaded four of them again from health.mil, and they were identical, byte for byte.

The 9 quarterly reports we read, in order:

Cite this study

Hope Center for Behavior Change, “TRICARE Autism Care in Florida: What DHA's Reports Show,” November 12, 2026, https://hopecenterforbehaviorchange.com/research/tricare-autism-care-florida/. Data: Defense Health Agency reports to Congress on the TRICARE Comprehensive Autism Care Demonstration.

Download the data as a CSV: every figure on this page plus Florida’s and the national counts for each quarter and fiscal year. Free to use with credit to Hope Center for Behavior Change and a link to this page (CC BY 4.0). Please cite DHA’s reports too.

Spotted an error or a newer figure? Email office@hopecenteraba.com and we will correct the page and note the change.

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