After concerns that the administration planned to create an ‘autism registry,’ officials announced a more modest database that will include information from Medicare and Medicaid enrollees with a diagnosis of autism.

The National Institutes of Health and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Wednesday said Medicare and Medicaid private health data will be used for autism research.

Federal health agencies will create a database of autism patients enrolled in Medicare and Medicaid that researchers will use to study the causes of autism spectrum disorder, U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F.