Cornell University Expert Professor Finds Private Equity Profiting Off Autism Services

Before 2001, neither commercial health insurance companies nor Medicaid covered services for people with autism. By 2015, thanks in large part to the advocacy of thousands of parents, all but seven states had mandates requiring commercial health plans to provide coverage for autism, with the remainder covered by 2019.

According to research by Professor Rosemary Batt, the flood of insurance and taxpayer money that followed quickly flowed into the pockets of private equity firms. Between 2017 and 2022, private equity firms completed 85 percent of all mergers and acquisitions in autism services. It is the highest rate among healthcare segments.

“Parents who fought for health insurance coverage for their autistic kids expected the funds to be used to expand access to high-quality treatment. They didn’t expect firms to move in, skim reimbursements to pay high salaries to executives, and deliver millions to private equity partners,” said Batt, the Alice Hanson Cook Professor of Women and Work.

Batt’s policy paper, “Pocketing Money Meant for Special Needs Kids: Private Equity in Autism Services,” is co-authored by her longtime collaborator, Eileen Appelbaum of the Center for Economic and Policy Research, while Quynh Trang Nguyen, MILR ’23 contributed substantial research assistance. It was published by the Center for Economic and Policy Research.