Posted on 11/26/2025 1:24:19 PM PST by Morgana
The unprecedented crackdown that is underway right now to root out fraud in Minnesota’s growing autism program started around the time of a federal raid of two autism centers last year in Minneapolis and St. Cloud.
However, there are growing concerns that the state may have missed warning signs.
“It makes me sad for the families,” said Dr. Eric Larsson with the Lovaas Institute Midwest. He’s dedicated his life to helping families with autism and even helped the state stand up its autism program a decade ago.
“The only reason we’re delivering services is because families worked so hard over the past 30 years to develop this program,” he said.
But now the program is in the crosshairs of state investigators. As 5 INVESTIGATES first reported, 1 in 5 autism centers in the state is now under investigation after a new crackdown launched last fall.
“There was such a high need for autism services in Minnesota when the state began offering it, that it’s an unlicensed service, so there aren’t the same structures in place that there are for other programs,” said Shireen Gandhi, Temporary Commissioner at the Minnesota Department of Human Services, the agency that oversees the program.
There are currently more than 450 providers in the state who submit claims for Medicaid reimbursement. When the program first got off the ground in 2017, claims totaled more than $1 million.
But the program has exploded – last year, claims totaled more than $220 million.
DHS said it stepped up enforcement late last year, around the time the feds raided two autism centers suspected of billing the state more than $20 million for services never provided.
“I was never thinking somebody is going to submit fake bills,” Dr. Larsson said.
(Excerpt) Read more at kstp.com ...
The autism clinics are under investigation and I wonder if they will be shut down and people there will be sent to the big house?
Thank you for posting!
School district budgets are exploding - due to special education federal IDEA mandates. There seems little accountability in the SpEd billing process, while property taxpayers are mandated to pay massive amounts each year.
In Canada families with autistic kids get extra money... Apparently that’s the reason for the increase in autism diagnosis. Free money for autistic children means... More autistic children... Doh! Thankfully it’s a ‘spectrum’ disease... So you don’t need to be fully autistic... Just a hint of it will do. Ka-ching!
The old rule—if the government pays for something they get more of it.
I’m wondering how much these autism centers were in on this scam and why? Were they in on it just to inflate the numbers of autism or were they also Somali workers trying to funnel money to terrorists?
Either way someone needs serious prison time.
As for these autism centers they need more strict over sight by the government. Perhaps the autistic kids need their own school like in the old days and that would settle a lot of problems.
“I was never thinking somebody is going to submit fake bills,” Dr. Larsson said.
Lol…This guys adorable. Every other program in the nation that bills medicare does it…. Why would this be any different?
On the “bell curve” natives from that part of Africa are functionally retarded. They were welcomed here under the delusion that all races are equal and would fit right in with a modern civilized nation. They saw the undefinable autism “spectrum” and put everyone on it for the gibs. And guilt ridden white liberals just kept shoveling the tax dollars so they aren’t “racist.”
Autism diagnosis = $$$ (mostly for the doctors)
When they started describing autism as “a spectrum”, most folks knew it was a scam, just like ADHD. In fact, it seems being “on the spectrum” has mostly replaced ADHD.
Shirky principle
How could you even tell with Somalis?
The lightbulb shaped head for one
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.