100 Percent of Audited Medicaid Claims for Autism Care in Colorado Were Improper or Flawed: Report

Colorado Medicaid spending on Applied Behavior Analysis rose 280 percent in five years and suffers from a lack of oversight, according to the Inspector General.

A sign in front of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services building in Woodlawn, Md., on March 19, 2025. Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images

Colorado’s Medicaid program made an estimated $77.8 million in improper payments and another $207.4 million in potentially improper payments for autism therapy, according to a February report from the Inspector General for the Department of Health and Human Services.

Auditors investigated $289.5 million in Medicaid payments from 2022 to 2023 that paid for more than 1 million claims for Applied Behavior Analysis—a therapy used to treat autism and developmental disabilities.