Posted on 04/02/2026 9:22:26 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
What do you get when you cross the Corleone crime family with the Sopranos pulling off a heist even bigger than the Lucchese crime family's multimillion-dollar Lufthansa caper in 1978? I dunno, but it's got nothin' on California.
If you haven't already read Rick Moran's excellent "Gavin Newsom, 'The Celebrated Jumping Fraud King of Calaveras County'," open that in a new tab, take a gander, then come back here. Because when I first read Rick's piece, I thought, "That's some massive theft going on, but how big is it, really?"
Longtime Sharp VodkaPundit Readers™ know I can't look at the big numbers without nerding out a little — OK, a lot — and processing them into easy-to-understand figures that will nevertheless cause your jaw to drop like pulling a 9-G turn without your helmet's chin-strap fastened.
So of course I ran the numbers, and... hoo-boy. I'll get to those in just a moment.
In a strictly legal sense, there's no evidence I'm aware of tying California Gov. Gavin Newsom to his state's multi-multi-billion-dollar fraud problem. But if you'll let me walk you through today's shocking numbers, maybe you'll agree that some sort of investigation is warranted.
Let's start with Medi-Cal, California's version of Medicaid — the state health insurance program for low-income residents, because the spending is both massive and chock-full of fraud.
When Newsom was sworn in for his first term in 2019, Sacramento spent an eye-watering $93.5 billion on Medi-Cal. Seven years later, that figure has more than doubled to $196.7 billion. But let's be fair and account for inflation, since we got such a whopping dose of it during the Biden Cabal's reign.
(Excerpt) Read more at pjmedia.com ...
So after inflation and a shrinking population, Medi-Cal spending jumped by about two-thirds per resident, to just over $5,000 for every man, woman, and child in California.
But Medi-Cal is just for needy people — technically speaking, and stick a pin in that thought — and roughly 14 million people qualify for Medi-Cal coverage. So that's $14,000 in benefits each year for everybody enrolled, and my research indicates that most everybody who is eligible is actually enrolled. Because with that kind of largess, why wouldn't they be?
I'll pause here a moment so you can ponder the fact that nearly 40% of California residents are considered "needy" enough to qualify for Medi-Cal.
A Medi-Cal benefit worth about $8,580 or so in 2019 (in today's dollars) is now worth $14,000.
Poor Californians must have gotten super-healthy since 2019, right?
Where did the millions of dollars go with politicians in charge?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GumWeVdcof4
It’s really sad how much corruption there is in America. The more we know less of the Good book. The worse it gets.
Send a Marine detachment in to seize control of Cali state/city government, arrest all current state/city officials, hold them until audits are complete, hold military tribunals and hang all those found guilty of defrauding America. MCGA!
I may be an old fart, but I do not remember so much fraud in the past!
Americans used to be very honest and taking government money was a sign of shame.
Even people eligible for welfare often proudly refused help!
Now, it seems like everybody is milking the government for everything they can.
Looks like, we are heading for the old Soviet paradigm.
“If you are not stealing, you are stealing from your own family!”
and
“Why rob banks, when government has immensely more stuff to be expropriated?!”
Shame!
I haven’t received treatment from a medical doctor for ~25 years.
Tracking US Health Care Spending by Health Condition and County
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2830568
Federal COVID‑19 Policies Led to Substantial Increase in Caseload. In 2020, Congress approved a temporary increase in federal funding for most Medicaid costs. To be eligible for this increased federal funding, states were required to comply with several requirements on top of standard Medicaid rules, the most important being the continuous coverage requirement, which prohibited states from terminating eligibility for existing beneficiaries except in limited circumstances. Largely as a result of these policies, caseload and associated Medi‑Cal spending across all fund sources have increased substantially since the beginning of the pandemic. As shown in Figure 5, Medi‑Cal caseload increased by over three million (25 percent) between March 2020 and June 2023—roughly the effective term of the continuous coverage requirement.
Increasing Use of an Automatic Renewal Process. The “ex‑parte” review process allows counties to automatically renew enrollees in Medi‑Cal in cases in which eligibility‑related information from federal and state sources allow for renewal without any contact with the beneficiary. Ex‑parte renewals are a key tool in increasing the overall number of county redeterminations per month. Flexibilities that increase ex‑parte renewals allow:
Ex‑parte renewals in certain cases in which income under 100 percent of the federal poverty level was verified in the previous 12 months.
Ex‑parte renewals for households with income generally derived from stable sources, such as Social Security or pensions.
Expanded use of asset verification reports for ex‑parte renewals until the elimination of the asset test on January 1, 2024.
Reducing Documentation Requirements. The state has also received approval for flexibilities that reduce county workload and simplify processes for enrollees. Specifically:
When self‑attested information cannot be verified with electronic data sources, a beneficiary can provide a reasonable explanation for the discrepancy in lieu of needing to provide documentation.
Counties can assume no change in assets (and renew on an ex‑parte basis) when asset verification data returns no information within a reasonable time frame (20‑30 days depending upon the circumstance) rather than seek additional verification from the enrollee.
Counties can extend a renewal date by 12 months when contact is made with certain hard‑to‑reach populations, including individuals experiencing homelessness, seniors, and persons with disabilities
The requirement that applicants apply for certain types of available income (such as unemployment or veteran’s benefits) and medical support from a non‑custodial parent within 90 days of approval is waived.
we project that the share of enrollees renewed in the program would exceed 80 percent. As of late‑January 2024, only five states and the District of Columbia have renewal rates exceeding 80 percent, based on national redeterminations data compiled by KFF.
In December 2023, CMS announced that it will extend flexibilities past the end of continuous coverage unwinding through at least the end of 2024. DHCS has communicated its intent to continue some of the eligibility flexibilities (to the extent permitted by the federal government)
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4838
As just a normal working family man I am sick and mad about this. I’m being played as a fool, and I can’t be alone. When is something going to be done about this. Or is it too late.
The only solution at this point is Civil War II. Prove me wrong.
IRC-—CALIF ADDED RENT PAYMENTS/UTILITY PAYMENTS & OTHER ITEMS TO MEDI-CAL BENEFITS.
RE: Americans used to be very honest and taking government money was a sign of shame.
Great post. I have to believe Americans have changed, of course.
An observation by the late Paul Harvey: For decades people who fell on hard times and had to accept welfare for their families meant they and their loved ones tried to keep it a shameful secret that people wouldn’t learn in their neighborhoods or churches.
Now people are told these are “entitlements” and they defiantly demand their entitlements and want to get them as long as they can.
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