American autism care providers are backing the Trump administration’s crackdown on Medicaid fraud, arguing that the alleged theft of millions of federal funds has hurt both taxpayers and children with autism.
The Justice Department announced charges on Thursday against 15 people for attempting to defraud Minnesota Medicaid and other social service programs in the state of more than $90 million.
The U.S. Department of Justice indicted 55-year-old Shamso Ahmed Hassan and 25-year-old Hanaan Mursal Yusuf, slapping them with numerous counts of fraud and related charges for their alleged $46.6 million scheme to defraud Minnesota Medicaid’s Early Intensive Developmental and Behavioral Intervention (EIDBI) Program.
The Autism Families Alliance describes itself as a national advocacy organization dedicated to supporting Applied Behavior Analysis providers and the families who rely on their services.
“We do this work because we believe every child deserves the chance to communicate, gain independence, and live the fullest life possible,” Taylor Sanders, a family advocate at the Autism Families Alliance, told Fox News Digital.
“I’ve worked with children who found their voice after being nonverbal. I’ve watched families go from fear and uncertainty to hope because their child was finally making progress. Those are the moments that keep us going.”
The group argues that every dollar allegedly stolen by fraudsters should have been used to help a child with autism learn to communicate, gain independence and receive the care they need.
“President Trump and the administration are right: fraud is unacceptable and those responsible should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” Sanders added.
According to prosecutors, Hassan and Yusuf operated through two companies.
The pair allegedly paid kickbacks to families to incentivize them to send their children to Smart Therapy Center and Star Autism Center so they could bill for autism-related services in their children’s names.
According to officials speaking from a press conference Thursday afternoon, the defendants allegedly paid parents between $300 and $1,500 per child to enroll their children in autism treatment programs before billing Medicaid for services using providers who either never worked at the clinics or were no longer employed there.
The scheme was sweeping in scale and scope.
The Justice Department estimates that the companies charged Medicaid $46.6 million for care that was either unnecessary or not provided, and that they were reimbursed $21.1 million.
It claims that some of the proceeds from the fraudulent billing were used to purchase real estate and transferred overseas to Kenya.
“These schemes did more than steal taxpayer dollars — they robbed children with autism, adults with disabilities, and other at-risk citizens of the essential care they rely on,” HHS Inspector General T. March Bell said in a news release.
Federal officials also highlighted troubling findings elsewhere.
Speaking Tuesday during a Department of Justice anti-fraud press conference in Philadelphia, Oz said investigators have found that 90 percent of autism services provided by the blue state lacked justification.
Oz described the scale of irregularities he discovered.
“We have massive increases that have grown to the kinds of numbers you could not imagine being able to show on a clipboard, with 90 percent of services billed and paid for — in Maine in particular — where there is no justifiable backup for it,” Oz said.
Autism providers also raised concerns about the administration’s broader approach.
“There’s real concern among the families I work with that their children’s care could be interrupted because of the government’s response to these criminals,” Sanders said. “Access to these programs aren’t a political talking point to these families, it’s their lifeline. Losing this lifeline is a real fear that parents worry about every day.”
“As some states move to crack down on fraud, we have to make sure we’re targeting fraudsters, not putting new barriers in front of families trying to get their children the care they need.”
The crackdown extends beyond Minnesota and autism services.
Oz said the Trump administration has adopted what he described as an “all-of-government” strategy involving the Department of Justice, the Department of Health and Human Services, the FBI, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the IRS Criminal Investigation Division and state attorneys general to identify and prosecute Medicaid fraud.
Kennedy Jr. also addressed the issue directly.
“We will not allow criminals to treat children as billing opportunities while American taxpayers foot the bill,” Kennedy said.
Federal officials warned that the problem extends across multiple states and programs, signaling a nationwide enforcement effort.
Federal officials said the crackdown reflects a broader effort to expand Medicaid fraud enforcement nationwide. The Justice Department announced the addition of Minnesota to its Midwest Health Care Fraud Strike Force, previously centered in Chicago and Detroit.
In the viral moment that sparked broader attention, the Minnesota fraud case coincided with the sentencing of another major fraudster from the state.
A judge handed down an extraordinary prison sentence — nearly 42 years — to the former leader of a Minnesota nonprofit who was convicted in a staggering $250 million fraud case that helped ignite an immigration crackdown by the Trump administration. Aimee Bock ran Feeding Our Future, which had claimed it helped provide millions of meals to children in need during the pandemic.
Bock said in federal court, “I understand I failed. I failed the public, my family, everyone.”
After the hearing, authorities announced charges against 15 more people accused of fraud in receiving federal payments for a variety of social services administered through Minnesota’s state government.
The administration is moving forward with enhanced oversight tools.
Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said the recommendations unveiled Tuesday are targeted at “fraud schemes that exploit children with autism and misuse funds from American taxpayers.” “This toolkit gives states practical tools that may be used to identify bad actors, protect families, and hold providers accountable,” he said in statement.
Costs for applied behavior analysis have increased 421% between 2021 and 2025, outpacing the 67% rise in the number of children diagnosed with autism, data from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services shows.
Medicaid spending on autism therapy grew dramatically, particularly in Minnesota.
The fraud charges represent only part of the broader crackdown announced Thursday.
One case involved an alleged $425,000 fraud tied to a state-funded teacher compensation program, while another involved a $4.6 million scheme targeting a federally funded child care assistance program.
Autism providers are calling for balanced enforcement going forward.
Some states, including Georgia, North Carolina and Indiana, have taken steps to enhance oversight of autism services. But the coalition is calling on policymakers to ensure fraudsters are removed from the system without creating what they describe as unnecessary barriers for families of vulnerable children seeking care.
The Trump administration is stepping up enforcement across multiple states.
Assistant Attorney General Colin McDonald announced that 19 defendants have been charged in Pennsylvania for allegedly submitting fraudulent Medicaid claims through home health care programs.
During the press conference Tuesday, state and federal prosecutors announced charges of 19 defendants in connection with a $4 million scheme to defraud government-run Medicare and Medicaid system in Pennsylvania.
The DOJ has established task forces to investigate similar schemes nationwide.
Federal authorities announced criminal charges Thursday against 15 defendants in Minnesota accused of participating in health care fraud schemes involving more than $90 million in intended losses, including what prosecutors described as the largest Medicaid autism fraud case ever charged by the Justice Department.
The next sentencing date for Hassan and Yusuf has not been set.