Posted on 12/08/2025 6:04:15 AM PST by karpov
Diagnosis rates of autism among children have more than tripled over the past 15 years. One reason, which Minnesota’s welfare scandal lays bare with shocking details, is Medicaid fraud and abuse.
Medicaid pays healthcare providers big bucks to diagnose and treat children with autism—sometimes tens of thousands of dollars a month for a single child. Yet states rarely verify that kids who are diagnosed actually meet the medical criteria for the disorder or that they get appropriate treatment from qualified specialists.
The result: Children covered by Medicaid or the government-run Children’s Health Insurance Program are 2.5 times as likely as those with private coverage to be diagnosed with autism. Many lower-income kids are labeled autistic merely because they have behavioral or developmental problems.
In 2014 the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services began requiring state Medicaid programs to cover autism therapy such as applied behavior analysis or ABA, a technique that uses positive reinforcement to improve social and communication skills. ObamaCare plans are also required to cover such therapy as an “essential benefit.”
Previously, the responsibility for providing such treatment fell mainly on public schools. Many lacked the expertise and were happy to shift the costs to federal taxpayers, which cover between 50% and 75% of Medicaid bills for most beneficiaries.
Autism behavioral services “comprise one of the fastest growing healthcare industries in the United States,” the Massachusetts Office of the Inspector General noted last year in an audit of the state’s Medicaid program. “There is an increased need for vigilance in program integrity to keep pace with the growing number of ABA providers.”
In Minnesota, the number of autism providers soared 700%, and payments to them increased 3,000% between 2018 and 2023.
(Excerpt) Read more at wsj.com ...
It’s the vaccines.
ADHD redux.
The same model which criminally gave them the covid statistics to justify their actions.
Autism exploded 20-30 years ago for sure. If it’s exploded since then I don’t doubt it
Vaccines yes. They should stop for a sec and look at other things as well
But also When people find out they can get govt $ they go for autism diagnosis. Govt prob prioritizes their voting probability. Differentbworld like when Eddie Murphy went around as a white guy.
Us 969 p/100000, canada 1020 p/100000 china supposedly 484 p/100000
https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/autism-rates-by-country
Japan is highest
Another way for democrat party to steal money from taxpayers for blue states. Fake diagnoses.
I saw a meme of an “autistic” child after a doctor visit. “Ma’am, we have thoroughly examined your son. We have diagnosed that he is just a little uncontrolled shit.”
This really is true. And for some people, its some bizarre way to feel important for a kid or grandkid to have autism, or ADHD or "being on the spectrum." I have one friend who, when she talks about her grandson, always brings up that he is "borderline." I think its a way to explain or excuse his bad behavior or the fact that he can't or won't get a job.
If you work for a living nobody gives you money for having an autistic kid. Matter of fact it costs you a boatload of money.
It’s people on public assistance and the organizations that service welfare recipients who get the money, not working people.
No good deed ever goes unpunished. Trump is uncovering staggering amounts of waste, fraud and abuse in government programs. Now we know why Democrats are going nuts over Trump and MAGA. Despicable.
My son is mildly retarded. He was tested as a child with an IQ of 85. His mother and I did everything we possibly could to keep him from being labelled including taking him out of public school. The public school officials were devoted to putting him in special ed. He eventually graduated from a small private school, and, believe it or not, from a local piece of crap public college with an associates degree in automotive and diesel technology (he is struggling very hard to work in the field). Letting your child get labelled is almost a death sentence to their future.
Recent news reports have highlighted significant fraud in programs designed to treat autism, which has led to increased scrutiny of how public funds are spent.
Fraud in Treatment Programs——there have been significant fraud cases in programs that provide services for individuals with autism, particularly in Minnesota Somali strongholds.
Specific Cases: Federal prosecutors in Minnesota have charged Somali individuals in a widespread scheme to defraud a state-funded autism program (Early Intensive Developmental and Behavioral Intervention, or EIDBI) of millions of dollars.
Fraudulent Somali Activities involved:
Billing for services that were never provided.
Paying kickbacks to Somali parents to enroll their children in centers, sometimes even if the children did not have autism.
Employing unqualified Somali staff.
Ties to other Somali large-scale fraud, such as the “Feeding Our Future” child nutrition program scheme. These fraud cases have led to increased oversight and new regulations for autism treatment providers in Minnesota to prevent future abuse of the system.
In summary, the substantial flow of government money into related programs has unfortunately attracted Somali autism criminal fraud.
Anything but the 800 pound gorilla in the room.
When people… when medical provider people…. They are the ones that get the money.
Also, we have the need to put labels on people. DEI doesn’t want us to put certain labels on so society searches for alternatives.
When people… when medical provider people…. They are the ones that get the money.
Also, we have the need to put labels on people. DEI doesn’t want us to put certain labels on so society searches for alternatives.
A generation of 1990’s kids have aged out of the ADHD scam and are old enough to unplug from the big Pharma amphetamines drug pushers. Autism and suicide scare is the next Pharma industry scam. Since college is less popular now that whole test prep and testing industry is at risk.
The same thing that happened when school districts discovered they could get more fed money for a kid diagnosed ADD a d put on Ritalin....my mom was a bus driver and parents often told her how the schools were pushing them to get their kids on the program using incentives...
The schools get more money for special ed busses, more for special ed students , they were extremely adept at targeting the poorer families because the incentives outweighed any fear of stigma and the poorer parents were often less interested in their kids’ education than in just getting by, and the side bennies given to families in the programs were free stuff intended for the kids that the parents could sell for drug money.
In our school district the pressure was so great that one family on my Mom’s route, when they weren’t convinced by the promises of the school district, refused to participate and eventually had to pull their kids from the public school and send them to a Catholic school to avoid their kids being labeled. There was nothing wrong with the kids behaviorally or intellectually and they graduated college later with honors.
She's the greatest challenge in our life right now. Not just for my wife and I but for her three older siblings. And most importantly for her, herself as she struggles to communicate.
These "autism is my superpower" Reddit folks (many of whom are self-diagnosed) piss me off endlessly. Autism is not my daughter's superpower. It is a profound disability.
And the growing number of people out there who are scamming the programs for the gibs and bleeding them dry with their fake diagnosis need to be prosecuted.
Autism may just be the ‘scam du jour’. Yes, I know that autism is real, but it can be used to get what some call ‘crazy money’. Kid gets diagnosed and is now eligible for SSI until his 18th birthday. Autism can be easily faked, especially if the doctor is either sympathetic or in on the scam.
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