Free Republic

Beyond all reckoning, the goofy DOGE geniuses did it! It’s done. For six years, they guarded this data like the nuclear codes. Yesterday, DOGE slapped it on the internet, ribbon-wrapped for Valentine’s Day. DOGE —whose death was obviously slightly exaggerated— just dropped a tactical nuke on both the vaccine debate and welfare fraud— and launched the biggest crowdsourcing project in human history. Yesterday, Axios ran the story headlined, “Elon Musk declares victory with Medicaid data release.”

In a startling development, a Minnesota building that was originally a linen factory is allegedly now housing around 400 Medicaid billing businesses. In a social media clip, Mehmet Oz, administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), revealed that these businesses billed approximately $380 million (£278 million) to Medicaid. ‘Behind me is the Griggs Midway building. It looks like a factory because it was a factory. Roughly 400 Medicaid businesses were started in the building behind me over the last several years,’ Oz said while standing alongside acting CDC Director Jim O’Neill outside the building in St. Paul....

Recently released federal data shows the rate of improper payment in Minnesota's Medicaid program is far below the national average, the state's Department of Human Services says. According to the data released by the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the error rate in Minnesota is slightly over 2.1%, compared to the national average of 6.1%. The human services department says the data was collected before it started implementing measures to cut down on fraud risk. "We're committed to making Minnesota a national model for preventing fraud and catching errors," said Shireen Gandhi, the temporary human services commissioner. "This...

Two years ago, Zakia Khan and her son Ahsan Ijaz hosted an NYPD promotion ceremony for the first Pakistani inspector in the New York City police department. After an Imam recited a prayer and everyone, including NYPD personnel, rose and put their hands on their hearts for the Pakistani national anthem, hailing Pakistan as the ‘citadel of Islam’ in the “shadow of Allah.” Last year, Khan pleaded guilty to a $68 million Medicaid fraud scheme involving her adult day care centers, which had been the sponsors of the NYPD event, and earlier this year more members of the Muslim fraud...

Dr Oz, Administrator of Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, exposed a linen factory was converted into an office building for 400 likely fake Medicaid businesses in Minneapolis He then confirmed EACH ONE IS BILLING ROUGHLY A MILLION DOLLARS to taxpayers “Roughly each business had $1,000,000 of billing. It's an industrial area” “How is it possible 400 businesses billing almost $400 million were able to thrive here? — Why did no one in the state figure out this was a concern?”

Two Brooklyn marketers plead guilty in federal court to taking part in a wide-ranging Medicaid fraud scheme that prosecutors say relied on illegal kickbacks, sham billing, and money laundering connected to two social adult day care centers and a home health care company. Manal Wasef, 46, and Elaine Antao, 46, both of Brooklyn, were admitted to conspiring to commit health care fraud after investigators concluded they helped steer Medicaid recipients to specific providers in exchange for bribes and other illicit payments. Authorities allege the operation resulted in more than $68 million in Medicaid billings for services that were not provided....

Minnesota wasn’t an accident and Maine proves it. From Medicaid fraud to no-bid contracts, whistleblowers are exposing the same playbook being used across multiple states.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt detailed the “four commonsense pillars” of President Donald Trump’s newly unveiled framework for the “Great Healthcare Plan,” which the White House is calling on Congress to pass.Leavitt outlined the president’s vision to reporters during Thursday’s White House press briefing. She stated that the first pillar is “permanently lowering prescription drug prices” by codifying Trump’s most-favored-nations deals with pharmaceutical companies.“Congress can get this done by codifying President Trump’s historic most-favored-nation [MFN] initiatives into law to guarantee Americans the same low prices for prescription drugs that people in other countries around the world pay,” Leavitt said.....

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison on Wednesday charged a Minneapolis man with more than $3 million in Medicaid fraud tied to a state-licensed home health agency. Mohamed Abdirashid Omarxeyd was charged with eight counts of felony theft by false representation after prosecutors said he used his company, Guardian Home Health Services, to bill Minnesota’s Medicaid program for services that were never provided or were ineligible for reimbursement from 2020 through 2024. According to the criminal complaint, Guardian submitted fraudulent claims for personal care aide services, companion care, homemaking, respite care, individualized home support and other community support services. State officials...

UPDATE: It’s worse than we thought. In October, we flagged $1.3 billion in Medicaid funds that 6 states may have unlawfully spent on health care for illegal immigrants. Since then, we’ve gathered more data and the total has grown to over $1.8 billion across 8 states. It’s against the law to spend federal Medicaid funds on non-emergency healthcare for illegals. If states use their own money to do it, there needs to be a clear paper trail proving that federal dollars didn’t fund those services. These states failed to provide that for this $1.8 billion. So today, CMS is announcing...

The headline probably has most of you saying to yourselves: Of course, I believe the amount of fraud taking place in federal 'safety net' programs. No matter what number you report, Moran, I've already imagined it. I'd agree with you, except that the scale of the fraud, waste, and lax enforcement is beyond anything anyone ever imagined. Veronique de Rugy, a senior research fellow at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University and a contributing editor at Reason, has spent her entire career as a voice crying in the wilderness, trying to get Congress, opinion-makers, and citizens to pay attention...

The Brief: * Two men from Philadelphia are accused of traveling to Minnesota to take advantage of "easy money" through the state’s Medicaid programs. * The FOX 9 Investigators confirmed both men will plead guilty during plea hearings scheduled for next month. * Authorities allege the pair’s scheme involved $3.5 million in fraudulent Medicaid billing. Federal prosecutors charged Anthony Jefferson and Lester Brown, both from Philadelphia, with exploiting the state’s social service programs to line their own pockets. At the time they were charged in December, Joe Thompson, First Assistant U.S. Attorney, stated, "These defendants came here not to enjoy...

Over 500 women have sued Virginia’s Chesapeake Regional Medical Center, alleging that the health system had "enabled" former physician Javaid Perwaiz, who is currently in prison, to perform unnecessary surgeries on them. Perwaiz was convicted of Medicaid fraud and is serving a 59-year sentence for performing unnecessary surgeries and procedures, including hysterectomies, on women without their consent. In total, 510 plaintiffs are each seeking $10 million. The 204-page complaint alleges that despite "repeated reports and clear evidence" of prior misconduct by Perwaiz, who is from Pakistan and came to the US in the 1980s, at his own OBGYN practice, the...

The Trump administration on Monday doled out billions to states from a fund Congress created to “transform” rural health care. The funds, however, will be lavished more generously on small states and states that adopt administration friendly policies. “The purpose of this $50 billion investment in rural health care is not to pay off the bills,” Dr. Mehmet Oz, head of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, told reporters Monday. “The purpose of this $50 billion investment is to allow us to rightsize the system and to deal with the fundamental hindrances of improvement in rural health care.” Over...

I don’t know why Nick Shirley’s video has gotten so much attention. For the most part the attention is welcome, but it has engendered quite a few misunderstandings. The national commentary in the wake of Shirley’s video has been almost entirely ill-informed. Those who attack Shirley and try to undermine his video are missing the point. Whatever the merits of that video, there is absolutely zero doubt that there has been an enormous amount of fraud in Minnesota’s Somali community. Some of it relates to child care. In fact, child care fraud came to light a decade or more ago....

You’ve seen the video. Nick Shirley, a citizen journalist (aka a journalist), traveled around Minnesota looking for fraud at state-funded daycare centers largely run by Somali immigrants. He found obvious evidence of malfeasance — and a worldwide audience on X. Shirley’s 42-minute video has now been viewed 115 million times, even forcing a huffy response from Governor Tim Walz (last seen exaggerating his military service). Shirley deserves the attention. But when it comes to waste, fraud, and abuse in government programs, nothing holds a candle to health-care spending. Especially in blue states. And especially since the Affordable Care Act and...

It's not just Minnesota. Or just daycares. The deepest government honeypot is blue-state Medicaid. And nowhere does corruption run deeper than in New York State, where everyone wants a piece of a $120 billion honeypot. -- snip -- A few weeks ago, I received an email with the subject line, "Healthcare and the $2,100 Taxi Ride." The email began: "I have a friend who drives a taxi in XXX NY. He estimates that 80% of the cab fares are paid for by Medicaid… "Yesterday, he made a round tripper from XXX to Boston where a child had a two-hour appointment...

Federal Medicaid policy creates little incentive for states to stop potential fraudsters. Fixing that should be the priority, not demonizing Somali immigrants.A sprawling welfare scheme that saw fraudsters steal over $9 billion in Minnesota is a damning indictment of a federal and state bureaucracy that failed at some of its most basic responsibilities to taxpayers. That fraud is back at the top of the news this week after YouTuber Nick Shirley went viral with a 42-minute video in which he claims to be "investigating" the fraud scandal. In the video, Shirley knocks on the doors of several day care centers...

BLS data confirms home health aides as the fastest-growing U.S. occupation with a 10% surge to over 500,000 in 2024. It's MOSTLY Medicaid-funded. 42% are foreign-born across the US. 78% are foreign-born in NYC where most home health aides are used. Want to guess where the fraud is?

Remember when they kept claiming that illegal aliens weren’t draining Medicaid? Not only is it happening, but they’re doing it out in the open. Contra Costa County health officials are urging eligible undocumented residents without health insurance to sign up for Medi-Cal by Dec. 31. This is because starting Jan. 1 the state, in a cost-cutting move, will no longer accept new enrollees to the full-scope plan, which includes everything from check-ups to prescriptions and surgery. There are exceptions for pregnant women and children. Current Medi-Cal participants, including those without residency documents, can remain on the health plan, said Marla...