Trump’s Medicaid-fraud crackdown may hurt some – Latest News
Team Trump’s crackdown on Medicaid fraud, headed by Vice President JD Vance, spells huge hassle for Democrats — who fake to care about health look after the poor however let tens of billions circulate to special-interest allies.
That makes a sweeping anti-fraud marketing campaign crucial, particularly for these in need.
On Wednesday, Vance introduced a freeze on $1.3 billion in federal reimbursements for care at 800 California hospices.
Why?
Dr. Mehmet Oz, who oversees Medicare and Medicaid, notes that a third of the nation’s hospices are in Los Angeles.
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“How is that possible?” he asks.
“There are not that many people dying in Los Angeles.”
Oz believes not less than half of LA’s hospices “are fraudulent.”
California “has not taken fraud very seriously,” notes Vance; “How long are people going to pay into programs if they know that that money doesn’t go to a low-income kid who needs health care, but . . . [to] a fraudster?”
Indeed, the nation shells out about $1 trillion on Medicaid yearly, with about two-thirds coming from Washington. California’s outlay: $222 billion. New York’s: $124 billion.
All ripe for fraud and corruption.
New York is no slouch both with regards to scams — many visibly geared to complement Democrats’ allies.
The Empire Center’s Bill Hammond has flagged a number of:
“Hundreds of millions” for the Advanced Training Initiative was supposed “to improve care for nursing home residents” however as an alternative went “to subsidize health coverage” for health-care union 1199SEIU’s members.
The union additionally diverted taxpayer funds to a group that lobbies for more Medicaid spending.
Gov. Kathy Hochul organized a $29 million “distressed provider” grant for Somos Community Care whereas her marketing campaign banked $400,000 from Somos-affiliated donors.
Costs for the state’s Consumer Directed Personal Assistance Program, which funds home-care aides, at the moment are about $15 billion a yr, practically triple the quantity of a decade in the past.
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And after Hochul claimed to reform CDPAP by contracting with a personal company, Public Partnerships LLC, the contract wound up being probed for bid-rigging.
Even past all that, Hochul and Dem lawmakers routinely OK huge Medicaid bloat as a result of, as Hammond places it, they “rely heavily on political support — and campaign donations — from Medicaid-funded health-care interests.”
As for ferreting out fraud, it could be comical if it weren’t tragic: New York spends probably the most per capita of any state on Medicaid, but conducts the third-fewest Fraud Control Unit probes per billion spent.
Any financial savings Vance, Oz & Co. reap from their crackdown may show troublesome for Dems and the particular pursuits that back them.
But they can be utilized for actually needy Americans — these Democrats solely profess to champion.
