State coming down on autism therapy providers that potentially abused system

INDIANAPOLIS (INDIANA CAPITAL CHRONICLE) — Indiana Family and Social Services Administration chief Mitch Roob put autism therapy providers on notice in a tense meeting with key stakeholders last week — requiring self-reporting of “abusive” billing practices used before a recent revamp of the program.

Providers must “self-report” to the state any practices that could constitute fraud, waste or abuse by April 3, according to multiple people familiar with the meeting. 

The urgency follows a March 10 Wall Street Journal article that highlighted an Indiana provider as an example of out-of-control costs billed to the Medicaid program for applied behavior analysis therapy.

In 2023, Indiana paid Piece by Piece Autism Centers $29 million to provide ABA therapy to just 84 patients — about $340,000 a child — according to the Wall Street Journal analysis. Some providers were charging $600 pe...