Audit Says Minnesota Department of Human Services Could’ve Done More to Investigate Autism Kickbacks

(Photo by Alyssa Chen/Minnesota Reformer)

(Minnesota Reformer) – The Minnesota Department of Human Services has said that until a 2025 change in the law, the agency was limited in how it investigated so-called kickback schemes in human services, which is when a provider pays someone to sign up for their service.

That interpretation of the law was incorrect in at least three cases, the Office of Legislative Auditor argued in a new report.

The OLA “special review” stemmed from a person, not identified in the report, who was concerned that the DHS hadn’t properly addressed complaints about a Medicaid program called Early Intensive Developmental and Behavioral Intervention, which is intended to provide treatment to young people with autism.

Autism intervention services in the state have seen an explosion of growth in recent years, fueling concerns about fraud. The Reformer previously reported that the number of providers — who diagnose and treat people with autism spectrum disorder — increased 700% from 2018 to 2023, climbing from 41 providers to 328. That number continued to increase to over 500 in 2024, according to the audit report. And the number of people receiving early autism services has more than tripled since 2020, from nearly 1,400 in 2020 to over 5,600 in 2024, according to the report.