A North Carolina autism clinic where preschoolers are roused from naps after seven minutes is the jumping-off point for a sweeping New York Times investigation into how a fast-growing therapy industry is tapping into Medicaid. At Compleat Kidz, a 25-clinic chain backed by private equity, the company says the short naps are designed to prevent fraud—clinics can't bill for services when kids are sleeping. Former employees say the policy reflects a broader push to maximize billable hours. The autism clinic in Concord, a suburb of Charlotte, is one of a dozen in a city that had none a decade ago, a reflection of a national trend. Reporters Jessica Silver-Greenberg, Michael Corkery, and Robert Gebeloff detail a boom in such clinics across the US, fueled by rising diagnoses, insurance mandates, and federal rules requiring Medicaid coverage for therapy.
The drawback to all this?
- The Times "has found that this rapid expansion has played out with little regulatory oversight and brought allegations of children being harmed by profit-motivated practices," reads the story. "In interviews, dozens of current and former clinic workers described how clinics frequently overprescribe hours—even recommending that some families remove children from school so they can receive more therapy."
The story notes that the boom is built around intensive therapy known as applied behavior analysis, or ABA, which emphasizes one-on-one care. The piece includes interviews with parents who swear by it, but it also features cautionary voices, including a woman who worked at multiple clinics in Texas: "The science is beautiful, but the industry is very ugly." Read the full investigation.
,
uBlock 
,
and
Ghostery 
)
