On 60th Anniversary of Medicaid, Speaker Johnson highlights waste, fraud, and abuse in Medicaid across the country
WASHINGTON — Sixty years ago today, Medicaid was created as an important safety net for pregnant women, single mothers, low-income seniors, and Americans with disabilities. Since then, the program has become dramatically expanded beyond its original intent, becoming bloated, broken, unrecognizable, and unsustainable.
Over the past 60 years, the program has spiraled:
- An estimated $1.1 trillion in improper federal payments over the last decade
- Spending has tripled since President Obama took office, now topping $600 billion a year
- Millions enrolled who shouldn’t be — including noncitizens, the deceased, and people enrolled in multiple states
- States blocked from removing fraud and ineligible enrollees under federal red tape
When it comes to waste, fraud, and abuse, every single state has been affected. From dead people receiving benefits in Colorado to millions in duplicate enrollments in Oregon, the abuse is staggering.
The One Big Beautiful Bill takes crucial steps to rooting out some of the widespread waste, fraud, and abuse within the program by tightening eligibility to ensure illegal aliens cannot receive benefits, preventing payments from going to the deceased, and implementing work requirements for able-bodied adults.
Examples of widespread waste, fraud, and abuse of Medicaid:
ALABAMA: WSFA: Former Alabama Medicaid employee indicted for theft
ALASKA: Alaska News Source: Anchorage ‘hoverboard dentist’ sentenced in Medicaid fraud scheme
ARIZONA: Fox10: DOJ opens investigation on Arizona Medicaid fraud
ARKANSAS: THV11: Arkansas woman convicted for Medicaid fraud, says attorney general
CALIFORNIA: KSBW: Newsom seeks additional $2.8B to address Medi-Cal shortfall.
COLORADO: Denver Gazette: Colorado kept paying for thousands of dead people on Medicaid rolls, audit says
CONNECTICUT: Fox 61: Connecticut woman admits to participating in $1.8 million scheme defrauding Medicaid
DELAWARE: WHYY: Delaware doctor to pay $500K to settle charge she defrauded Medicare by ordering unnecessary genetic tests
FLORIDA: Miami Herald: How a $53 million fraud got a Florida telemarketer and his 9 cronies prison time
GEORGIA: WCTV: Georgia woman arrested for food stamp, Medicaid fraud
HAWAII: Spectrum News: State to receive restitution for Medicaid fraud
IDAHO: East Idaho News: Idaho woman admits to submitting false claims for reimbursement on behalf of refugees
ILLINOIS: Chicago Tribune: Audit finds many were improperly enrolled in state health care program for noncitizens, while costs were vastly underestimated
INDIANA: Indianapolis Star: Whistleblowers: Indiana Medicaid overpaid up to $700M amid lobbying, political pressure
IOWA: Iowa Capital Dispatch: Iowa nurse pays $52,560 to settle million-dollar Medicare fraud case
KANSAS: Kansas Reflector: Audit reveals KDHE mistakenly paid $1.3 million to Medicaid contractors for care of dead people
KENTUCKY: Kentucky Today: 5 indicted on Medicaid fraud charges
LOUISIANA: Louisiana Illuminator: Alleged Medicaid fraudster bought Cadillac, had pool installed, Louisiana attorney general says
MAINE: Newscenter Maine: Warren woman charged in biggest case of welfare fraud in state history
MARYLAND: CBS: Maryland woman pleads guilty to stealing $3.6 million in Medicaid fraud scheme
MASSACHUSETTS: WJAR: Massachusetts Medicaid fraud case settled for $25M
MICHIGAN: The Detroit News: Macomb Co. woman accused of Medicaid fraud charged
MINNESOTA: Breitbart: 85 Minnesota Autism Clinics Under Investigation for Millions in Medicaid Fraud
MISSISSIPPI: WJTV: Mississippi man charged in $70 million Medicare fraud scheme
MISSOURI: 13KRCG: Three woman admit to defrauding Missouri Medicaid program for $552,000
MONTANA: NBC Montana: Kalispell chiropractors to pay $450K for Medicaid fraud
NEBRASKA: KETV: ‘Billed 32 hours of work in one day’: State audit outlines suspected Medicaid fraud and abuse
NEVADA: KOLO: Nevada doctor convicted for defrauding millions from Medicare and Medicaid
NEW HAMPSHIRE: Union Leader: NH man indicted on charges of bogus Medicaid transportation claims
NEW JERSEY: NJ Spotlight: NJ Medicaid monitors claw back $100M annually from fraud, overpayments
NEW MEXICO: KFOX 14: Las Cruces therapist indicted for $1M Medicaid fraud in equine therapy program
NEW YORK: NY Post: 3 million New Yorkers on Medicaid, public health insurance are costing state a staggering $20B in potentially ‘fraudulent’ coverage: report
NORTH CAROLINA: WYFF: Woman admits to defrauding NC Medicaid of $6 million in taxpayer dollars
NORTH DAKOTA: KFYR: Bismarck woman charged with Medicaid fraud
OHIO: Dayton Daily News: Dayton woman pleads guilty to stealing $1.5M from Ohio Medicaid
OKLAHOMA: KTUL: Oklahoma woman sentenced for Medicaid fraud
OREGON: Statesman Journal: Oregon paid millions for duplicate Medicaid enrollments, audit says
PENNSYLVANIA: WHTM: Pennsylvania man pleads guilty to over $1 million in welfare fraud
RHODE ISLAND: WPRI: RI Medicaid paid $38M for out-of-state residents, audit discovers
SOUTH CAROLINA: WIS: 2 men plead guilty to defrauding SC agency out of more than $8.1 million through government contract
SOUTH DAKOTA: Keloland: Pierre woman charged with Medicaid fraud
TENNESSEE: THV 11: Tennessee resident convicted of Medicaid fraud, AG Griffin announces
TEXAS: The Texan: Fredericksburg Doctor Convicted in $70 Million Medicaid Fraud Scheme
UTAH: Fox13: Utah woman charged with nearly $13 million in Medicaid fraud
VERMONT: WCAX: Hundreds of thousands in Vt. taxpayer Medicaid dollars are unaccounted for
VIRGINIA: Wavy: Suffolk woman pleads guilty in $1.3M health care fraud scheme
WASHINGTON: Tri-City Herald: Therapy clinic accused of $700K Medicaid fraud. Tri-Cities owners bought 5 luxury cars
WEST VIRGINIA: WTRF: West Virginia Nurse Practitioner pleads guilty to Health Care Fraud, faces up to 40 years in prison
WISCONSIN: WFRV: Wisconsin woman indicted in multi-million dollar healthcare fraud scheme
WYOMING: Cowboy State Daily: Uinta County Man Charged With Lying To Get $14,000 In Medicaid Payments
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