US EditionMinnesota Legislative Auditor Says DHS Had Authority to Investigate Alleged Kickbacks in Autism Fraud Schemes
A 30-year-old rule error limited Minnesota DHS's ability to suspend payments amid autism program fraud; ongoing reforms aim to clarify fraud definitions, officials said.
- The Office of the Legislative Auditor found DHS had the authority to investigate EIDBI kickbacks, reviewing closures from 2017 to 2024 on Tuesday.
- Rapid growth in Early Intensive Developmental and Behavioral Intervention contributed to scrutiny, with providers rising from 150 to over 400 and costs from $38.1 million to $324.9 million, while a 1995 administrative rule error limited DHS's authority.
- Reviewing complaints from July 2017 to February 2024, the Office of the Legislative Auditor flagged three kickback complaints the Office of Inspector General failed to investigate, despite most closures being reasonable.
- DHS will revise its fraud definition to include kickbacks, with Inspector General James Clark saying the department will seek legislation that could take effect in August, as the 2025 law leaves suspension authority unclear.
- Reported provider abuses, including paying rent to recruits, signal systemic risks as Yussuf and Hassan pleaded guilty in autism fraud cases and an Optum audit estimated $38.1 million in potential savings.
11 Articles
11 Articles
Hanford Sentinel
Report finds Minnesota officials erred in not investigating allegations of autism program kickbacks
Minnesota social services officials didn’t investigate complaints about alleged kickbacks in an embattled autism intervention program despite having legal authority to do so, according to a new auditor’s report. The report, which the Office of the Legislative Auditor released Tuesday,…
Audit Reveals Systemic Failures Allowed Somali Fraud to Persist for Years.
PULSE POINTSWHAT HAPPENED: A new state audit revealed that Minnesota’s Department of Human Services failed to investigate Medicaid kickback allegations, despite having the legal authority to do so for decades.WHO WAS INVOLVED: The Minnesota Department of Human Services, Governor Tim Walz (D) and his administration, and the Office of the Legislative Auditor (OLA).WHEN & WHERE: The audit was released on Tuesday, March 17, 20226, focusing on Minnes…
Minnesota Reformer
Audit: MN Department of Human Services could’ve done more to investigate autism kickbacks
Minnesota Department of Human Services Inspector General James Clark spoke at a press conference announcing Gov. Tim Walz's human services proposal Tuesday March 17, 2026. (Photo by Alyssa Chen/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 th…
Minnesota agency mistakenly believed it lacked authority to investigate kickbacks, OLA says
Share This StoryA new report from the Office of the Legislative Auditor (OLA) found that the Minnesota Department of Human Services (DHS) mistakenly believed it lacked the authority to investigate kickbacks in state programs. That report, which was published Tuesday, examined how DHS handled allegations of fraud within the Early Intensive Developmental and Behavioral Intervention (EIDBI) program, a federally-funded state program that provides se…
Audit reveals flaw in how Minnesota DHS handled some autism fraud kickback claims
A new report highlights an issue with how the Minnesota Department of Human Services handled some claims of kickbacks in autism services and recommends changes to the agency's definition of fraud.
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