The director of the National Institutes of Health previously floated — then walked back — the idea of an autism registry, alarming researchers and parents.

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.

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.