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Minnesota state Sens. Zaynab Mohamed and Scott Dibble say they will seek legislation regulating private equity’s influence on autism therapy providers, citing a 74 investigation into ownership and Medicaid billing. Their proposed measures include disclosure of provider owners and authority to act against business practices that compromise care; no bill text or legislative timeline was provided.
Minnesota state Sens. Zaynab Mohamed and Scott Dibble say they will pursue legislation regulating the influence of private equity firms on autism therapy providers, following a 74 investigation into company ownership and Medicaid-funded applied behavior analysis. They want greater transparency about who owns service centers and tools to intervene when business practices put children’s care at risk; the senators have not released bill language or a legislative schedule.
The senators, both members of the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party and representing Minneapolis, pointed to reporting by The 74 on private equity acquisitions of autism therapy businesses. The publication reported that investors have bought hundreds of smaller centers over the past decade and combined them into larger networks. The senators say proposed state action should make ownership more transparent and allow regulators to address providers whose business models undermine care.
The 74’s analysis of federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services records found that private equity firms owned almost half of the 50 companies with the highest claims. Those firms accounted for $3.1 billion of nearly $7 billion billed over the six-year period examined, according to the report. The investigation also found nationwide Medicaid reimbursements for applied behavior analysis, commonly called ABA, rose from $400 million in 2019 to nearly $2 billion in 2024. Those figures describe spending and billing; they do not by themselves establish that claims were improper.
Dibble said the state should require providers to disclose their ownership and consider requiring them to devote a defined portion of reimbursements to patient care. The source report did not specify a proposed minimum, enforcement mechanism or definition of qualifying care spending. It also did not report that the senators had introduced a bill.
Ownership Rules Could Aid Oversight
The proposed effort could affect how Minnesota monitors publicly funded autism services and holds providers accountable. When a care center is part of a complex corporate structure, families and regulators may have difficulty identifying who controls it. The senators argue that ownership disclosure would make it easier to assess a provider’s record and respond if services deteriorate or a center closes.
The stakes include continuity of care for children and families who rely on therapy, as well as the use of Medicaid funds. The 74 reported that some providers have shifted operations toward states with higher reimbursement rates. Critics of private equity ownership also warn that debt or a sale after investor returns are extracted can leave providers financially strained. These are concerns raised in the reporting and by critics; they do not establish that every private equity-owned provider delivers poor care or that a particular Minnesota company has violated the law.
The senators have also tied oversight to pressure on public budgets. They say states may need stronger safeguards as Medicaid spending faces cuts under the federal One Big Beautiful Bill Act. Whether any Minnesota proposal would change provider finances, service availability or family access will depend on its final language and implementation.
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From Investigation to State Proposal
The 74 investigation examined the growth of ABA services and the expansion of private equity ownership in the sector. ABA is a behavioral intervention used with autistic children, including very young children, and the report described programs that can involve many hours of therapy each week. The article also cited concerns about the evidence base and research reporting elevated rates of PTSD and psychiatric hospitalization among people who experienced the intervention. Those findings and concerns should not be treated as a determination about every child’s treatment or every provider.
Minnesota has been an attractive market for large autism therapy companies, according to The 74, partly because of its Medicaid benefits. The investigation followed a federal release of a large Medicaid dataset by the Department of Government Efficiency in February. The 74 said its analysis pointed to rapid provider acquisitions and limited oversight as systemic issues alongside concerns about fraud and waste that had received public attention.
Dibble previously authored a Minnesota bill requiring disclosure of for-profit purchases of nursing homes and assisted-living facilities. The report says that measure did not become law. It also cited a state health department review finding that 79% of investigated complaints about abuse and neglect in long-term care facilities involved for-profit companies. That finding concerns long-term care, not autism therapy providers, and is relevant here only as an example of the ownership-accountability debate.
“It’s not enough to have a P.O. box in New Jersey.”
— Minnesota state Sen. Scott Dibble
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Bill Scope and Safeguards Undisclosed
The senators have not provided draft legislation, a filing date or a timetable for committee consideration. It is also unclear which agencies would enforce any new requirements, what ownership information providers would have to report, and what authority the state would receive to restrict or remove a provider.
No specific minimum share of reimbursements for patient care has been proposed in the material provided. The investigation’s billing figures also do not show, on their own, how much was spent on treatment, whether individual claims were valid, or how ownership affected clinical outcomes. The source does not identify particular Minnesota autism therapy companies as having committed fraud or provide evidence that all private equity-owned providers have compromised care.
The senators’ announcement is a policy intention, not an enacted rule. The eventual effect on provider participation, Medicaid costs and families’ access to services remains unknown.
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Watch for Draft Legislation
The next concrete step would be for Mohamed and Dibble to release or introduce a bill. Its text would show whether the proposal focuses on ownership disclosure, financial reporting, standards for spending reimbursements on care, regulatory authority, or some combination of those measures.
Any proposal would then need to move through Minnesota’s legislative process, where lawmakers could amend it and debate how to balance accountability with continued access to therapy. Until the senators provide details or a bill advances, the scope, enforcement provisions and likely effects remain unsettled.
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Key Questions
What are the Minnesota senators proposing?
Sens. Zaynab Mohamed and Scott Dibble say they will seek legislation to make autism therapy provider ownership more transparent and give the state tools to address business practices they believe can harm care. Specific bill language has not been released.
What did The 74 investigation find about private equity and Medicaid claims?
The 74’s analysis of federal records found that private equity firms owned almost half of the 50 companies with the highest claims and accounted for $3.1 billion of nearly $7 billion billed during the six-year period it examined. The figures do not, by themselves, establish that the claims were improper.
Have the senators introduced a bill?
The source report says the senators announced they would seek laws regulating private equity’s influence on autism therapy providers. It does not report that they introduced a bill or provide a filing date.
Would the proposal ban private equity ownership of therapy centers?
No ban was specified in the source material. The senators described goals including ownership disclosure and authority to act against providers whose profit-driven practices compromise care. The final approach is not yet known.
What is applied behavior analysis?
Applied behavior analysis, or ABA, is a behavioral intervention used in autism services. The 74 report discussed debate over its evidence base and cited research on possible harms; the article does not establish that every ABA program or provider has the same effects.
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