The insurer that has been paying for her son’s therapy, UnitedHealthcare, has begun — to the befuddlement of his clinical team — denying him the hours they say he requires to maintain his progress. Inside the insurance conglomerate, the nation’s largest and most profitable, the slashing of care to children like Benji does have a reason, though it has little to do with their needs. It is part of a secret internal cost-cutting campaign that targets a growing financial burden for the company: the treatment of thousands of children with autism across the country.

UnitedHealth Is Strategically Limiting Access to Critical Treatment for Kids With Autism

by Annie Waldman | ProPublicaDecember 15, 2024January 15, 2025

Reporting Highlights These highlights were written by the reporters and editors who worked on this story. ProPublica is a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative newsroom. Sign up for The Big Story newsletter to receive stories like this one in your inbox. There was a time when Sharelle Menard thought her son would never be able to speak. […]

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