Friends and neighbors,
Minnesota has a program that pays for therapy and support services for kids under 21 with autism. It's called EIDBI, and spending on it grew from $38 million in 2020 to $325 million in 2024. As you imagine, it was a prime target for fraud.
The Legislative Auditor looked into complaints that providers were offering kickbacks to parents to bring their kids to their clinic, which is very much illegal. When those complaints landed at the DHS Office of Inspector General, they did nothing, saying they didn’t have the authority to investigate kickbacks.
Which sounds ridiculous, and – obviously – is not true. Auditors confirmed that DHS did indeed have the authority and just didn’t use it. Because of DHS inaction, providers who may have been paying families to steer kids their way kept getting state money without any investigation, scrutiny, or consequences.
You can read the full report here: https://www.auditor.leg.state.mn.us/sreview/pdf/2026-dhs-oig-kickbacks.pdf
Thank you for staying informed and engaged. Let me know if you have any questions I can answer.
Sincerely,