# EIDBI *Early Intensive Developmental and Behavioral Intervention, a Minnesota Medicaid benefit for autism services.* Early Intensive Developmental and Behavioral Intervention (EIDBI) is a [[Minnesota]] Medicaid benefit for autism services. Its statutory authority is Minn. Stat. §256B.0949.[^1] The Minnesota Department of Human Services (DHS) [[Office of Inspector General]] is the state office that documents EIDBI billing investigations. Dossier material citing that office puts suspected EIDBI billing fraud identified in 2024–2026 at approximately $200 million or more.[^2] The dated enforcement outputs in the record are federal. IRS Criminal Investigation announced the first EIDBI fraud charges on September 24, 2025.[^3] The president and CEO of a [[St. Cloud]] autism center pleaded guilty to wire fraud. The plea covered more than $6 million in Medicaid and EIDBI reimbursements obtained from late 2020 through December 2024.[^4] A May 20, 2026 indictment, *United States v. Hassan & Yusuf*, No. 26-cr-00099 (D. Minn.), alleges $46.6 million billed and about $21.1 million paid. The [[United States Department of Justice]] announced it the next day as part of a 15-defendant health care fraud takedown involving more than $90 million.[^5] The record contains no state prosecution of an EIDBI provider. An at-issue entry on the May 2026 indictment states: "The prosecuting sovereign is not Minnesota."[^6] The State's own outputs in the record are a review and a new office. On March 17, 2026, the Office of the Legislative Auditor (OLA) issued a special review titled *DHS Investigation of EIDBI Kickback Allegations*.[^7][^8] In May 2026 the Legislature created an Office of the Inspector General, scheduled to open in 2027.[^9] Sources in the record disagree on the program's spending figures; each figure is given below with its source. ## Who EIDBI is a DHS Medicaid benefit, and the DHS inspector general documents its billing investigations.[^2] The project's claim:link rows identify Jodi Harpstead as DHS Commissioner during the period covered by the Feeding Our Future and EIDBI rows.[^10] The federal record names several providers. One is Smart Therapy LLC; the Time Table identifies its defendant as Asha Farhan Hassan.[^3] Another is a St. Cloud autism center, which the record does not name. Its president and CEO pleaded guilty, and a co-defendant pleaded guilty the same day.[^4] The third set of defendants is in *United States v. Hassan & Yusuf*.[^5] The U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Minnesota brought these prosecutions, with IRS Criminal Investigation.[^4][^3] ## What Minn. Stat. §256B.0949 sets out EIDBI as a Medicaid benefit.[^1] The OLA special review concerns DHS's handling of EIDBI kickback allegations. The record carries the review's title and date but not its findings.[^7][^8] The project's claim:link catalogue lists 18 U.S.C. §666, the federal statute on theft or bribery in programs that receive federal funds, as a predicate for its EIDBI-related theories.[^11] The guilty pleas in the record are to wire fraud.[^3][^4] ## When - **2012 and 2015:** Time Table rows record 41 providers, 791 recipients and a cost of $20.4 million. The figures are identical in both years.[^12] - **Late 2020 – December 2024:** the period of the St. Cloud center's reimbursements.[^4] - **2021–2025:** the period of the Smart Therapy LLC claims.[^3] - **September 24, 2025:** IRS Criminal Investigation announces the first defendant charged in an autism fraud case.[^3] - **January 2026:** the St. Cloud center's state license is revoked. The at-issue record places this after the plea.[^13] - **February 25, 2026:** CMS/HHS defers $259,505,491 in Minnesota Medicaid match.[^14] - **March 3, 2026:** the St. Cloud owner's guilty plea is reported.[^15][^16] - **March 4, 2026:** [[House Oversight]] issues *[[The Cost of Doing Nothing]]*, a report on Minnesota fraud.[^17] - **March 17, 2026:** OLA issues its special review.[^7] - **May 2026:** the Legislature enacts a new Office of the Inspector General, opening in 2027.[^9] - **May 20–21, 2026:** *United States v. Hassan & Yusuf* is indicted, and DOJ announces the 15-defendant takedown.[^5] - **June 5, 2026:** House Oversight issues its 205-page Minnesota fraud final staff report.[^18] ## Why The record does not establish why EIDBI billing grew. It also does not establish why the charged cases were brought by federal rather than state prosecutors. It records outputs only. House Oversight's June 5, 2026 staff report on Minnesota fraud contains, at page 75, the phrase "litigation threats and fear of accusations of discrimination, not legal or regulatory barriers". The excerpt in the record does not say which program that passage addresses.[^18] The same year, the United States sued the State over a separate instrument. DOJ release No. 26-21 of January 14, 2026, titled *United States Department of Justice Files Lawsuit Against Minnesota's 'Affirmative Action' Regime*, announced the suit. Attorney General Pamela Bondi certified the case as a matter of general public importance.[^19] The complaint, *United States v. State of Minnesota*, No. 0:26-cv-00273 (filed January 14, 2026), is brought under [[Title VII]] and directed at Minn. Stat. [[§43A.191]]. It states allegations, and no ruling is recorded.[^20] The release's term for the State's apparatus is "Minnesota's 'Affirmative Action' Regime".[^19] The project's catalogue of U.S.-government "regime" usages finds no other U.S. state so described. ## How The at-issue record describes how the St. Cloud operation ran. It says the operation was staffed with untrained relatives and paid monthly cash kickbacks to parents.[^13] The Cato Institute's August 2026 update says EIDBI was targeted with fabricated diagnoses and kickbacks.[^21] Kickback allegations are also the subject of the OLA review.[^8] The co-defendant who pleaded guilty alongside the St. Cloud owner did so in a combined $14 million autism case. The plea also covered "$465,000 tied to Feeding Our Future", linking EIDBI billing to the [[Feeding Our Future]] prosecutions.[^4] ## How much - **Program spending:** dossier material citing the DHS inspector general puts EIDBI spending growth at $38 million to more than $325 million, with no years given.[^2] An at-issue entry gives more than $342 million, and a Time Table row gives $342 million by 2024.[^22][^12] - **FY2021–FY2024 trajectory:** Time Table rows TL-0876 and TL-0938 give EIDBI payments of $4.6 million in FY2021 and more than $170 million in FY2024.[^23] The Cato Institute attributes the same $4.6 million to $170 million trajectory (2021–2024) to [[Integrated Community Supports]], a different program.[^21] - **Suspected fraud:** approximately $200 million or more in suspected EIDBI billing fraud was documented in 2024–2026, according to material citing the DHS inspector general.[^2] - **Individual cases:** - Smart Therapy LLC: $31.8 million in claims, 2021–2025.[^3] - St. Cloud center: more than $6 million.[^4] - *Hassan & Yusuf*: $46.6 million billed and about $21.1 million paid (allegations).[^5] - **Federal deferral:** the February 25, 2026 CMS/HHS deferral of $259,505,491 comprised $243.8 million classed as unsupported or potentially attributable to fraud, plus $15.4 million for ineligibility. The record does not establish what share concerns EIDBI.[^14] ## How many - 41 providers serving 791 recipients, as recorded for 2012 and 2015. A Time Table row states that the provider count rose from 41 to 328 after 2019.[^12] - 15 defendants were charged in the May 21, 2026 Minnesota health care fraud takedown.[^5] - Six additional defendants were charged in the USAO-MN release that also recorded the St. Cloud plea and a same-day co-defendant plea.[^4] - 8 defendants were charged in September 2025 in the first wave of cases in a related Medicaid program, [[Housing Stabilization Services]].[^24][^25] ## In the at-issue record - Entry AI-Anoka-016 concerns Minnesota programs that claim to serve "underrepresented" communities. It puts losses through those programs at roughly $592 million: Feeding Our Future above $250 million and EIDBI above $342 million. It states that the State's oversight apparatus "caught none of it".[^22] - Entry AI-Humphrey-081 records EIDBI providers indicted in May 2026 for billing $46.6 million and collecting $21.1 million. It states that the prosecuting sovereign is not Minnesota.[^6][^5] - Entry AI-Humphrey-082 records that the project could not establish whether any EIDBI, Housing Stabilization Services or child-care assistance provider operates in a Wright County city. The gap is registered as G-3, and no claim about county exposure is made.[^26] - Entry AI-Stearns-013 records the St. Cloud president and CEO's wire-fraud plea, covering more than $6 million in Medicaid and EIDBI reimbursements over four years. It records that the state license was revoked in January 2026, after the plea.[^13][^4] ## In the Minnesota record ### When - **TL-0812 (2012) and TL-0839 (2015):** 41 providers, 791 recipients, $20.4 million.[^12] - **TL-0876 (2019) and TL-0938 (September 24, 2025):** FY2021 payments of $4.6 million and FY2024 payments of $170 million or more. Cato attributes the same figures to Integrated Community Supports (see *How much*).[^23][^21] - **TL-0938 (September 24, 2025):** first EIDBI fraud charges, Smart Therapy LLC, $31.8 million.[^3] ## Notes [^1]: Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes, *Minn. Stat. §256B.0949* (current text) — statutory authority for EIDBI as a Medicaid benefit. https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/256B.0949 [^2]: Minnesota Department of Human Services, Office of Inspector General, *Inspector General* (agency page, as cited in project dossier notes, 2026) — the office's EIDBI billing investigations; approximately $200 million-plus in suspected EIDBI billing fraud documented 2024–2026; EIDBI spending $38 million to $325 million-plus (figures as stated in the dossier notes). https://mn.gov/dhs/general-public/about-dhs/inspector-general/ [^3]: IRS Criminal Investigation, *First defendant charged in autism fraud scheme* (Sept. 24, 2025), as recorded in Minnesota Time Table row TL-0938 — first EIDBI fraud charges; Smart Therapy LLC; $31.8 million in claims, 2021–2025; wire-fraud plea. https://www.irs.gov/compliance/criminal-investigation/first-defendant-charged-in-autism-fraud-scheme [^4]: U.S. Attorney's Office, District of Minnesota, *Six Additional Defendants Charged, One Defendant Pleads Guilty in Ongoing Fraud Schemes* (2026) — St. Cloud autism center president and CEO's wire-fraud plea (more than $6 million, late 2020 – Dec. 2024); co-defendant's same-day plea ($14 million autism case plus $465,000 tied to Feeding Our Future). https://www.justice.gov/usao-mn/pr/six-additional-defendants-charged-one-defendant-pleads-guilty-ongoing-fraud-schemes [^5]: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Public Affairs, *Minnesota Health Care Fraud Takedown Results in Charges Against 15 Defendants for Over $90M in Fraud* (May 21, 2026) — *US v. Hassan & Yusuf*, 26-cr-00099 (D. Minn., indicted May 20, 2026), $46.6 million billed / about $21.1 million paid (allegations). https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/minnesota-health-care-fraud-takedown-results-charges-against-15-defendants-over-90m-fraud [^6]: Minnesota wiki at-issue record, entry AI-Humphrey-081 (2026), anchored to The White House, *Trump Administration's Full-Scale War on Fraud* (May 2026) — EIDBI indictment figures; prosecuting sovereign not Minnesota. https://www.whiteh