May 14, 2026
The Boost News
SPOTLIGHT: MEDICAID ‘FRAUD’
The hunt for fraud is heating up. Below, some of this week’s major headlines, with summaries focusing on Medicaid.
JD Vance threatens health funding to states that don’t comply with White House anti-fraud effort
Attorneys general in all 50 states reportedly received a letter from the inspector general at the Dept. of Health and Human Services (HHS) warning states to investigate alleged Medicaid fraud or risk losing funding. This comes on the heels of HHS Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr. accusuing some home health aides, including family members who take care of disabled people under Medicaid-funded Home- and Community-Based (HCBS) programs, of fraud.
Andy Schneider at Georgetown University’s Center for Children and Families told The Guardian that “there’s no statutory or regulatory basis for withholding all of a state’s federal Medicaid matching funds due to non-performance by a MFCU [Medicaid Fraud Control Units]. … Republican anti-fraud programs are [about] stripping away capacity in order to punish political rivals.” (The Guardian)
“In at least one case, the administration has erred in its accusations against states,” PBS reports. “In April, CMS acknowledged to The Associated Press that it made a significant error in figures it used to help justify a fraud probe in New York.” This raised a common criticism that the second Trump administration “tends to attack first and confirm the facts later.” (PBS.org)
Trump Administration Will Withhold $1.3 Billion in Medicaid Payments to California (The New York Times)
Ohio introduces new Medicaid fraud prevention initiatives (Spectrum News 1)
OPINION: Republicans Push “Waste and Fraud” Narrative Again to Gut the Social Safety Net (Truthout.org)
RELATED HCBS INFO
The National Disability Navigator Resource Collaborator recently posted Toward Holistic Health Services under Medicaid, which explained why, as an optional benefit under Medicaid, HCBS are at risk of deep cuts as federal Medicaid funding is reduced.
In hopeful news, it notes that in April federal legislative proposals — the HCBS Access Act and Long-Term Care Workforce Support Act — were reintroduced to ensure comprehensive HCBS coverage under Medicaid, along with the adequate workforce funding needed to sustain it. (NDNRC)
FEDERAL BUDGET
FY 27 Appropriations The Autism Society has a good summary of what might be in the upcoming budget, noting that “together, these changes could weaken critical supports.” (Autism Society)
EDUCATION
Ed Department to release $144M for special education, early intervention The announcement also included guidance to states on using IDEA funds to help expectant parents of children with disabilities. (K-12 Dive)
Takeaways from McMahon hearing on Ed Dept priorities Lawmakers pressed the Ed secretary about progress in addressing a backlog of civil rights complaints. A recent report found OCR had reached agreements in only 1% of pending cases in 2025. (K-12 Dive)
Wealthy Students More Likely to Get Disability Accommodations, Study Finds Study finds that wealthy families were twice as likely as poorer ones to be granted accommodations under the federal law Section 504 — but that IEP recipients much more likely to come from low-income families than well-off ones. (The 74)
Why emotional disturbance, a special ed category, is a double-edged sword for students (NPR)
AUTISM
Antidepressants in Pregnancy: What a New Study Found No clear link was found between prenatal antidepressant exposure and autism or ADHD in kids. (MedPage Today)
Azithromycin use in late pregnancy may pose less risk of neurologic issues in babies than other antibiotics (Univ. of Minnesota/CIDRAP)
This high Schooler Developed an A.I. Tool to Diagnose Autism and ADHD Using the Retina (Smithsonian)
New Findings on Conflicts of Interest in Autism Research A new study examined autism intervention research published in eight Applied Behavior Analysis journals. One data point: 78% of authors were paid ABA providers, paid ABA consultants, or both. (Psychology Today)
HEALTH CARE
AMA announces educational video series on caring for people with disabilities (HME News)
Feds to Reconsider Rule Barring Disability Discrimination in Healthcare HHS published an interim final rule putting off the deadline for healthcare providers to ensure that their websites and mobile apps meet certain accessibility standards. (Disability Scoop/paywall)
STATES
Note: This starts with New York, where a majority of The Boost’s readership currently is based, and continues alphabetically by state.
NYS Assembly passes bill requiring immediate parent notice of school abuse claims (CBS 6 Albany)
Native kids with disabilities held in wooden boxes in upstate NY school district. Reforms are coming (NPR)
The Grand Tradition of Suing for School Tuition This is an interesting article with no easy takeaway. It starts with the premise that the city spends over a billion a year on special-ed lawsuits brought, mostly, by white parents and notes that the rate of claims per student in New York State is 10 times higher than the national average. (New York Magazine)
Nebraska demands proof, but shared living provider says 400 pages weren’t enough to keep patient’s funding tier (1011now.com)
In Texas, Houston Independent School District is under federal investigation over plans to restructure special ed services (Houston Public Radio)
Deal to cut taxes, boost special ed funds, dies in Wisconsin Senate (WPR.org)
TECH
This app lets kids with disabilities use devices with their minds. Now anyone can download it (CBC Radio)
STUDIES & REPORTS
Rural residents less likely to receive HCBS than urban counterparts (McKnights)
Autism and health (Autism Speaks)