Posted on 05/14/2026 7:41:58 AM PDT by MtnClimber
International fraud networks have targeted Medicaid programs all across the country, bilking US taxpayers of billions of dollars, according to Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz.
As the Trump administration continues its crackdown on fraud, waste and abuse, Dr. Oz has zeroed in on five states: California, New York, Florida, Minnesota, and Maine.
In recent media interviews, Dr. Oz has alleged that the Russian government is involved in healthcare fraud in California, the Chinese government in New York fraud, and the Cuban government in fraud schemes in Florida.
“We’ve got Russian government involvement, we believe, in Los Angeles. We’ve got the Chinese government involved in a big fraud ring in New York,” Oz told Fox News host Kayleigh McEnany, Tuesday morning.
As of April 15, the anti-fraud task force had suspended 447 high-risk hospice providers and 23 home health agencies in the Los Angeles area due to suspected malfeasance, totaling an estimated $600 million.
Oz said Democrat officeholders in California had all the information they needed to address this massive fraud back in 2022, but only made “trivial,” “performative” moves to deal with it.
To put the Golden State’s fraud in context, Oz added, “one in three hospices in the entire country are in Los Angeles,” emphasizing that these fraudulent “atrocities” were happening right under the noses of the current Democrat leadership.
The doctor noted that in South Florida, there are twice as many durable medical equipment suppliers selling wheelchairs and knee braces than McDonald’s, suggesting the Cuban government involvement.
“The owners all seem to be Cuban and they flee back to Cuba with the money when we come after them,” he said.
The anti-fraud task force, chaired by Vice President JD Vance, has targeted durable medical equipment, prosthetics, and orthotics supplies (DMEPOS) suppliers through a nationwide moratorium.
Also under scrutiny are alleged “high-risk services” that are normally provided by family members.
“In New York State, the number-one job in the entire state is not retail, it’s not folks working in shops, it’s personal care services. Why? It’s because it’s a jobs program for the state,” Oz told McEnany.
“Almost half a million people in that state are being paid to carry groceries upstairs for their parents or for their neighbor. These are jobs your family would do for you. That creates jobs in a state that’s losing jobs.”
While the states run Medicaid programs, federal taxpayers are the ones who foot the bill.
“That generates tax revenue, but it comes from the federal government, because we pick up most of the time. And here’s the part that’s really bothering me. They’re starting to unionize these workers!” Oz exclaimed.
The task force is working with CMS to develop anti-fraud requirements, including more pre-payment integrity controls, eligibility verification, and data sharing across federal and state programs.
Oz recently asked the governors and state Medicaid leaders of all 50 states to conduct a “revalidation” of high-risk Medicaid providers and to remove those that are noncompliant.
Meanwhile, on April 7, the Department of Justice created the National Fraud Enforcement Division, led by Assistant Attorney General Colin McDonald, to control fraud enforcement units and centralize investigations.
The division recently announced a slew of enforcement actions across the country targeting nearly $1 billion in fraud.
“The Fraud Division continues to grow its footprint and aggressively prosecute fraud schemes, no matter the size,” said Assistant Attorney General Colin McDonald of the National Fraud Enforcement Division. “Every day, prosecutors and law enforcement partners across the country are working to protect Americans from fraudsters who want to steal citizens’ hard-earned prosperity.”
And you can bet the insurance companies are in on it. Probably made lots of profit in the process.
Meanwhile us seniors getting screwed worse each year.
Drug I took last year at a $90 copay is $600 this year for copay.
Remember people, Governor Newsom of California has assured us all that investigation of Medical/Medicaid fraud is racist in nature.
If you spread free corn all over your floor, don’t be surprised when rats show up.
He forgot to mention Iran.
For all those Democrats who, for the past ten years have been able to utter little else than “Russia, Russia, Russia”, I wonder how much we will hear from them over this.
That’s probably it. It was a long time ago that I heard it, but it stuck with me (more or less).
that’s really interesting.
It seems the entire world is living off of the American taxpayer.
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