2026年10月9日 美国东部时间早上6:00 / 福克斯新闻
佐治亚州寄养家庭或面临失去自闭症服务，因Amerigroup将自闭症治疗服务商的Medicaid报销比例下调30%
https://www.foxnews.com/video/6406504534112
自闭症组织警告特朗普打击Medicaid欺诈政策的意外后果
自闭症家庭联盟家庭倡导者泰勒·桑德斯就特朗普政府打击Medicaid欺诈的举措表达担忧。
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独家报道： 支持特朗普政府打击Medicaid欺诈的美国自闭症护理服务商如今敲响警钟，警告在报销削减危及佐治亚州寄养儿童的治疗后，打击欺诈的努力可能产生意外后果。
自闭症家庭联盟自称是一家全国性倡导组织，致力于支持应用行为分析服务商以及依赖其服务的家庭。该组织表示，特朗普政府和州领导人打击欺诈的行动已经过头，可能导致佐治亚州许多寄养自闭症儿童无法获得所需护理。
此次警告是针对Amerigroup——这家通过Medicaid为佐治亚州寄养儿童提供保险的保险公司——将自闭症治疗服务商的付费标准下调30%的举措。服务商警告称，他们可能无力再为弱势儿童提供治疗，许多寄养家庭也无法将孩子转至其他保险公司。
“看到Medicaid相关的诸多项目遭到削减，以及这种极端后果，令人不安，”自闭症家庭联盟的家庭倡导者泰勒·桑德斯告诉福克斯新闻数字频道。“我们必须牢记，自闭症儿童处于非常脆弱的境地，他们仍在学习安全技能。有些孩子存在极具攻击性的、具有挑战性的行为。因此，当我们看到这类削减时，我们看到的是对能够提供这些服务的服务商产生影响。”
自闭症服务商在据称数百万美元通过Medicaid欺诈被盗后为特朗普的打击行动叫好
美国自闭症护理服务商支持特朗普政府打击Medicaid欺诈的行动。（内森·霍华德/盖蒂图片社）
“如果我们无法向服务商支付合理的薪酬，我们就无法确保他们能够顺利提供这些服务，我们将看到越来越少的儿童能够获得服务，”她补充道。
桑德斯表示，75%的诊所将不得不关门停业，或停止为寄养儿童提供服务。
桑德斯指出，30%的削减不仅会影响服务商为这些家庭提供服务的能力，还会限制寄养儿童学习必要技能的机会。患有自闭症的寄养儿童依靠定期治疗来培养日常技能，但突然失去这种支持可能会让他们倒退。
“如果他们不在早期干预阶段或年幼时学习这些校园技能，日后的成本将高得多，”她说。
今年8月，自闭症家庭联盟支持特朗普政府打击Medicaid欺诈的行动，称据称被盗的数百万联邦资金既损害了纳税人的利益，也损害了依赖这些服务的自闭症儿童的利益。包括佐治亚州在内的一些州也采取措施加强了对自闭症服务的监督。
该组织支持打击欺诈并起诉涉嫌犯罪分子，但也担心联邦和州层面广泛的打击欺诈行动可能会在无意中给合法服务商照顾自闭症儿童增加难度。该联盟呼吁政策制定者确保将欺诈者清除出系统，同时不造成他们所说的弱势儿童家庭寻求护理时面临不必要的障碍。
小罗伯特·F·肯尼迪宣布“美国历史上最大规模自闭症欺诈破获”，涉及4660万美元Medicaid诈骗起诉
自闭症家庭联盟表示，特朗普政府和州领导人打击欺诈的行动已经过头。（路透社/凯莉·库珀）
如今，该组织表示，佐治亚州的寄养家庭正面临此前他们所担忧的风险。
“我认为无论如何都应该起诉欺诈行为，”桑德斯说。“任何从事欺诈行为的人都应该按照法律的最高限度被起诉。但我们能否在打击欺诈的同时，仍然让我们的孩子能够获得服务？为什么我们不能同时做到这两点？”
“真正发生的情况是，我们用大锤来解决问题，而实际上我们应该用手术刀，”她继续说道，并补充称官员们需要“以不会彻底摧毁我们家庭获得的护理的方式来处理此事”。
据《佐治亚记录报》报道，佐治亚州的一名寄养母亲已经被告知，她将近3岁的儿子的治疗服务商可能会在他开始取得进展后被迫停止为他治疗。
“改善护理、提高效率、防止滥用的改革是我们所有人都支持的，但当这些努力让自闭症儿童更难获得所需护理时，就出了严重的问题，”自闭症家庭联盟的家庭倡导者凯尔西·贝内特告诉福克斯新闻数字频道。
佐治亚州的一名寄养母亲已经被告知，她将近3岁的儿子的治疗服务商可能会在他开始取得进展后被迫停止为他治疗。（奥利弗·孔特雷拉斯/法新社/盖蒂图片社）
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“没有谁比毕生致力于照顾这些儿童的服务商更希望消除浪费、欺诈和滥用。每一分纳税人的钱都应该用于帮助 intended 服务的对象。但你不能通过让弱势儿童更难获得帮助来修复系统。最终伤害到本应受到系统保护的儿童的改革不符合佐治亚州的最佳利益，”她继续说道。
贝内特敦促佐治亚州的立法者“让所有人都参与进来，包括Medicaid管理式护理公司和每天照顾这些儿童的服务商”。
“通过倾听一线人员的意见并共同努力，他们可以找到更好的前进道路，在不危及儿童获得护理机会的前提下提高效率，”她说。
“自闭症儿童，尤其是那些处于寄养系统中的儿童和被迎接到充满爱的寄养家庭中的儿童，已经面临足够多的挑战。他们的家庭不应该担心他们依赖的护理是否会突然消失。佐治亚州的领导人需要介入，解决这些削减问题，并确保这些儿童不会成为节省资金的努力的牺牲品，”她补充道。
Autism providers warn foster kids at risk from unintended consequences of Trump’s Medicaid fraud crackdown
October 9, 2026 6:00am EDT / Fox News
Georgia foster families face losing autism services after Amerigroup cut Medicaid reimbursement rates for providers by 30%
https://www.foxnews.com/video/6406504534112
Autism group warns of unintended fallout from Trump’s Medicaid fraud crackdown
Taylor Sanders, a family advocate at the Autism Families Alliance, discusses concerns about the Trump administration’s efforts to combat Medicaid fraud.
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EXCLUSIVE: American autism care providers who backed the Trump administration’s crackdown on Medicaid fraud are now sounding the alarm, warning that efforts to root out abuse could have unintended consequences after reimbursement cuts put therapy for Georgia foster children at risk.
The Autism Families Alliance, which describes itself as a national advocacy organization dedicated to supporting Applied Behavior Analysis providers and the families who rely on their services, said that efforts by the Trump administration and state leaders to fight fraud have gone too far, potentially leaving many of Georgia’s children with autism in foster care without the care they need.
This warning is in response to a move by Amerigroup, the insurer that covers Georgia’s foster children through Medicaid, to cut what it pays autism therapy providers by 30%. Providers caution that they may no longer be able to afford to treat vulnerable children and that many foster families will be unable to switch them to another insurer.
“It’s scary to see that so many different things are being slashed in terms of Medicaid, and that we’re seeing this drastic outcome,” Taylor Sanders, a family advocate at the Autism Families Alliance, told Fox News Digital. “It’s so important that we keep in mind that children with autism are in a very vulnerable place where they’re still needing to learn safety skills. There are some children who have extremely aggressive behaviors, challenging behaviors. So, when we’re seeing some of these cuts, we’re seeing it affect the providers who are able to provide access to these services.”
AUTISM PROVIDERS CHEER TRUMP CRACKDOWN AFTER MILLIONS ALLEGEDLY STOLEN THROUGH MEDICAID FRAUD
American autism care providers backed the Trump administration’s crackdown on Medicaid fraud.(Nathan Howard/Getty Images)
“If we’re not able to provide a good amount of pay to our providers, we’re not able to make sure they’re set up for success to be able to give some of these services, and we’re going to see less and less children being able to access services at all,” she added.
Sanders said 75% of clinics will have to close their doors or stop serving foster kids due to the massive cuts.
The 30% cut will not only affect providers’ ability to provide access to these families, but it will also limit foster children’s opportunities to learn essential skills, according to Sanders. Foster children with autism depend on regular therapy to develop everyday skills, but a sudden loss of that support could set them back.
“If they don’t learn these school skills at an early intervention or an early age, it’ll be a lot more costly later on,” she said.
In August, the Autism Families Alliance put its support behind the Trump administration’s crackdown on Medicaid fraud, arguing that the alleged theft of millions of federal funds has hurt both taxpayers and children with autism who rely on those services. Some states, including Georgia, have also taken steps to enhance oversight of autism services.
The group backed eliminating fraud and prosecuting suspected criminals, but also feared that broad federal and state efforts to root out fraud could unintentionally make it more difficult for legitimate providers to care for children with autism. The coalition called on policymakers to ensure fraudsters are removed from the system without creating what they described as unnecessary barriers for families of vulnerable children seeking care.
RFK JR ANNOUNCES ‘LARGEST AUTISM FRAUD BUST IN AMERICAN HISTORY’ WITH $46.6M MEDICAID SCHEME INDICTMENT
The Autism Families Alliance said that efforts by the Trump administration and state leaders to fight fraud have gone too far.(REUTERS/Kylie Cooper)
Now, the group says Georgia’s foster families face the risk that they had previously raised concerns about.
“I think fraud should be prosecuted by all means,” Sanders said. “Anybody who is engaging in fraudulent behavior should be prosecuted to the highest extent of the law. Are we able to not only tackle the fraud, but still give access to services for our children? Why can’t we do both at the same time?”
“What’s really happening here is we’re going in with a sledgehammer when really we should be going in with a scalpel,” she continued, adding that officials need to be “approaching this in a way where it’s not going to totally obliterate the care to our families.”
One Georgia foster mother has already been told her nearly 3-year-old son’s provider may be forced to stop treating him after he started making progress, according to the Georgia Recorder.
“Reforms that improve care, increase efficiency and prevent abuse are something we all support, but when those efforts make it harder for children with autism to get the care they need, something has gone terribly wrong,” Kelsey Bennett, a family advocate with the Autism Families Alliance, told Fox News Digital.
One Georgia foster mother has already been told her nearly 3-year-old son’s provider may be forced to stop treating him after he started making progress.(Oliver Contreras/AFP via Getty Images)
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“No one wants to eliminate waste, fraud and abuse more than the providers who dedicate their lives to caring for these children. Every taxpayer dollar should go toward helping the people it was intended to serve. But you can’t fix a system by making it harder for vulnerable children to get help. Reforms that end up hurting the very children the system is supposed to protect are not in Georgia’s best interests,” she continued.
Bennett urged Georgia’s lawmakers “to bring everyone to the table, including the Medicaid managed care companies and the providers who care for these children every day.”
“By listening to those on the front lines and working together, they can find a better way forward that improves efficiency without putting children’s access to care at risk,” she said.
“Children with autism, especially those in foster care and those welcomed into loving foster families, already face enough challenges. Their families shouldn’t have to worry about whether the care they depend on will suddenly disappear. Georgia’s leaders need to step in, address these cuts and make sure these children aren’t the ones paying the price for efforts to save money,” she added.
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