What's the Scam on the treatment of autism?

 What’s the scam on treatment of autism?

Want to make some quick bucks fast?  Seems to be pretty easy.  First step, find some folks who qualify for Medicaid.  Then screen them to see if they have a child (ren) who may be on the autism spectrum. If not, get a quick dx and you are on the way. Now you are in sight of that pot of gold.

Autism treatment is funded by Medicaid.  The treatment does not need to be provided by a licensed professional.   Well the treatment folks are supposed to be qualified professionals but states aren’t checking.  A large chunk of the costs associated with Medicaid are reimbursed to the states by the federal government so states are not incentivized to be all that diligent in checking credentials.  In Minnesota there was a man who set up a fly-by-night autism center claiming to provide 1 on 1 therapy. He allegedly said he worked with medical professionals.  He also employed his teenage relatives with no formal education in the field.  He raked in six million dollars before he was caught.  

Maine Medicaid pays for clinical specialists to work with children with autism in their homes.  Yet when the state inspector general (IG) investigated, she found that roughly half the families who were collecting for the service did not even have a child with the autism diagnosis.  

A center in Colorado billed Medicaid for treatment provided by staff with no professional credentials.   Some of the “treatments” for which Medicaid was billed included playing games, napping, lunch and time at a water park water slide.  Some children received as much as $15,470 per month for the “treatments”.

Fraudsters will always be around to try to game the system, whatever that system is. Parents of kids on the spectrum are looking for help and a possible cure so they are easy victims. One would think that states would realize, it’s all taxpayer dollars, just coming from another pocket and do a better job of monitoring.  Every Medicaid dollar that goes towards a scam is a dollar not available for real help for kids and their families.