What Minnesota’s Autism Services Fraud Case Teaches Every Parent
By Zechariah Tokar, Marketing Director at Achieving Stars Therapy
In September 2025, federal prosecutors charged the first defendant in what may become one of the most significant Medicaid fraud investigations involving autism services in U.S. history. The allegations are staggering: a single Minnesota provider, Smart Therapy Center, allegedly defrauded Medicaid of $14 million by billing for services never provided, hiring unqualified teenagers to “treat” children, and paying cash kickbacks to parents to enroll their kids.
This isn’t just a Minnesota problem. As someone who works daily with families seeking ABA therapy for their children, I’ve seen how desperation can make parents vulnerable to predatory providers. When your child receives an autism diagnosis, you want help immediately—and fraudulent operators exploit that urgency.
The Scale of the Problem
The numbers tell a disturbing story. Minnesota’s Early Intensive Developmental and Behavioral Intervention (EIDBI) program saw claims balloon from $3 million in 2018 to nearly $400 million in 2023. During that same period, autism service providers in the state grew from 41 to 328—a 700% increase.
Federal investigators found that some centers recruited families, ensured every child received an autism diagnosis regardless of actual need, and then billed Medicaid for maximum hours while providing minimal or no actual therapy. In one case, Smart Therapy allegedly billed over $850,000 for a single client over three years, collecting $438,000 in payments.
The human cost extends beyond stolen taxpayer dollars. Legitimate families with autistic children faced disrupted services, while children who genuinely needed therapy received substandard or nonexistent care from unqualified staff.
Red Flags Every Parent Should Know
Having worked with hundreds of families at Achieving Stars Therapy, I’ve learned to recognize warning signs that should make any parent pause:
1. Cash incentives or kickbacks. Legitimate providers never pay parents to enroll their children. According to court documents, Smart Therapy paid families $300-$1,500 monthly per child—amounts that scaled with authorized service hours. This is healthcare fraud, and it means the provider’s priority is billing volume, not your child’s outcomes.
2. Guaranteed diagnoses. Ethical providers conduct thorough assessments that sometimes conclude a child doesn’t meet diagnostic criteria for autism or doesn’t need the level of services initially considered. If a center guarantees your child will qualify before assessment, that’s a massive red flag.
3. Staff without credentials. The Minnesota case revealed that some centers hired 18- and 19-year-old relatives with no education beyond high school and zero autism-specific training. Quality ABA therapy requires Board Certified Behavior Analysts (BCBAs) supervising properly trained Registered Behavior Technicians (RBTs). Ask about staff credentials—and verify them.
4. Limited parent involvement. Fraudulent providers often want minimal parent contact beyond pickup and dropoff. In our experience at Achieving Stars, parent training and collaboration are essential components. We provide
in-home ABA services specifically because family involvement dramatically improves outcomes.
5. Maximum billing without progress. If your child is billed for the maximum allowable hours every week but you’re not seeing measurable progress or receiving detailed data, something is wrong. Ethical providers adjust treatment hours based on progress and clinical need, not billing optimization.
What Legitimate Providers Do Differently
Quality autism therapy providers operate transparently. They provide detailed treatment plans, collect data on every session, and adjust interventions based on your child’s progress. You should receive regular progress reports that show exactly what skills your child is working on and how they’re advancing.
At Achieving Stars Therapy, we’ve built our Colorado and New Hampshire operations around this transparency.
Our team includes credentialed BCBAs who conduct comprehensive assessments before recommending any services. We train parents throughout the process because research shows parent involvement improves outcomes. And we provide detailed session notes after every visit because you deserve to know exactly what’s happening during your child’s therapy time.
Legitimate providers also welcome questions. If asking about staff qualifications, billing practices, or treatment approaches makes a provider defensive, that’s your cue to look elsewhere.
Moving Forward
The Minnesota case is still unfolding, with federal prosecutors indicating Asha Farhan Hassan is just the first defendant in a broader investigation. The state has since implemented payment freezes and ordered third-party audits across 14 Medicaid programs to identify suspicious billing patterns.
For parents, the lesson is clear: trust your instincts. If something feels off about a provider’s practices—unusual financial arrangements, vague treatment plans, or staff who seem unqualified—seek a second opinion. Your child’s development is too important to risk with providers who prioritize billing over outcomes.
Quality ABA therapy can genuinely help autistic children develop communication skills, reduce challenging behaviors, and increase independence. But that only happens when providers are committed to your child’s progress rather than exploiting a system designed to help vulnerable families.
The fraud in Minnesota reminds us why transparency, credentials, and ethical practices matter. Parents deserve providers who view their work as a clinical responsibility, not a billing opportunity.
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About the Author: Zechariah Tokar is the Marketing Director at Achieving Stars Therapy, which provides in-home ABA therapy services to families in Colorado and New Hampshire. He works closely with families navigating autism services and advocates for transparency and ethical practices in the autism therapy field. The views expressed are his own and based on his professional experience in the industry.