(NYT) – The program’s spending on the therapy has quintupled since 2021, far outstripping the growth in diagnoses and raising concerns about overprescribing and fraud.

On Tuesday, the federal Medicaid office rolled out a “toolbox” of best practices and policy guidelines for regulating autism clinics. The 173-page document advises states to set limits for how much autism therapy a provider can bill before giving a child a break, require prior authorization for high numbers of hours and better track clinic outcomes.

Medicaid officials said in interviews that the new restrictions were necessary to deter the behavior of profit-oriented clinics that were taking advantage of state mandates that require the public health plan to cover autism treatment. (Read More)