EDITORIAL
Waiting for the scoop in special-ed probe

Finally, the first grand jury indictment has been issued in the state's special-education fraud investigation. Prosecutors have accused a therapeutic aide of submitting claims for $1,800 worth of services she did not provide.

Attorney General Earl Anzai says the arrest "appears to be the tip of the iceberg." His office is investigating other special-ed providers suspected of cheating the state.

Indeed, the first indictment appears to have brought more allegations out of the woodwork. For example, education reporter Jennifer Hiller recounts the case of Barb Gimlin, who was baffled that her 3-year-old autistic son rarely saw his therapist.

When Gimlin looked at the therapist's billing report, she found charges for numerous visits that never occurred. The therapist even charged for times she ran into the Gimlin family at restaurants. Whether this anecdotal evidence turns into another indictment, of course, is another matter.

Now, we have no sympathy whatsoever for those who exploit a system created to assist children with mental health problems, but we also have little patience with investigations in which there is more sizzle than steak.

So we're eager to see if the attorney general — not to mention a joint legislative committee that alone spent $300,000 investigating special- education fraud — can make their case for rampant abuse.

As state Health Director Bruce Anderson points out, the $1,800 indictment is small potatoes in a system that pays $87 million a year to contract with care providers and handles 296,000 billings a year.

Anzai says the investigation is starting at the bottom with the service providers, and will work its way up the chain. Certainly it's important to be rounding up the penny-ante providers who overbilled, but we've been led to expect more.

As we keep pointing out, it's troubling but not altogether surprising that Hawai'i's panic to bring its woefully inadequate special-education program in line with the federal Felix Consent Decree may have turned into a bonanza for some. The sense of urgency was palpable; U.S. District Judge David Ezra was, after all, threatening an imminent federal takeover of at least part of Hawai'i's school system.

It's like scrambling to get your car to pass the safety check. If you're not prudent, you can end up with an expensive auto mechanic who tricks you into paying for repairs you don't need. You can call it fraud, but you had it coming.