Democratic Govs. Kathy Hochul and Gavin Newsom turned a blind eye to the billions of dollars in Medicaid fraud they let go down the drain, Medicaid czar Dr. Mehmet Oz alleged Sunday.
“Some governors have not been serious about these problems. I’m going to single out [Tim] Walz in Minnesota, Gov. [Gavin] Newsom in California and Gov. [Kathy] Hochul here in New York,” Oz, the administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, said on 77 WABC’s “Cats Roundtable” program.
Medicaid is the public health insurance program for those in need, with costs split among the federal, state and local governments.
Oz announced last week that his office is conducting an extensive probe of the Hochul administration’s management of New York’s mammoth $124 billion Medicaid program.
The Post also reported that the Justice Department is set to file a lawsuit against Hochul’s administration over its allegedly rigged revamp of the state’s Medicaid home care program.
“There’s a rot in the system. The fraud you see in New York state isn’t a flaw — it’s a feature for some people,” he said.
Oz claimed that the number of employees serving elderly residents in New York’s home care and personal care programs has spiraled out of control in New York compared to other states.
These workers, paid by taxpayers, are providing care that historically has been provided by family members, he said.
“I think it is political patronage, and it’s a jobs program,” Oz said.
He discussed senior community care centers in the city where elderly residents can socialize during the day, particularly in Brooklyn and Queens.
About $1.2 billion is spent on community centers.
“What are you actually doing for them? These [bills] are manufactured,” Oz said.
He then turned to California’s Medicaid spending on the proliferation of hospice programs, which dwarfs other states.
“The number of hospices … just in Los Angeles is about 2,000. In the entire country, there were 6,000,” he said.
“And here’s the part that drives you batty: no one dies in these hospices. No one‘s dying because they are lying. They’re signing up people falsely. They trick people into signing up. They charge a lot of money to the federal government,” he said.
Republican states also have problems with Medicaid fraud, including Florida, led by Gov. Ron DeSantis.
Oz said there are twice as many medical equipment suppliers in Florida that bill Medicaid as there are McDonald’s franchises.
But he directed most of his wrath at Hochul and Newsom for “looking the other way.”
“In New York State, there’s a tremendous amount of pressure on Gov. Hochul to not in any way interfere with the many monied interests who profit when you’re spending a lot more money than any other state per beneficiary on Medicaid,” he said.
“They don’t mind the fraud or they would have dealt with it… When really smart people don’t fix the problem, it’s because they don’t want to fix the problem.”
A for Newsom, Oz said, “In California, the governor ignored continuous calls from his own auditors to deal with these problems. Whether it’s the Russian mafia or other groups, they seem able to get him to look the other way. “
A rep for Hochul defended the governor’s oversight of the Medicaid program.
“Well before the Trump administration even took office, Governor Hochul was leading efforts to root out waste, fraud and abuse — including sweeping CDPAP [Consumer Directed Personal Assistance Program reforms that shut down hundreds of wasteful Medicaid middlemen and saved over $2 billion for state and federal taxpayers while protecting home care for those who need it,” a Hochul spokesperson said.
“New York will continue to work with the federal government to identify bad actors — but let’s be clear about the real goal for Donald Trump and Washington Republicans: eliminating programs that support our most vulnerable and ripping away healthcare from everyday New Yorkers.”
Newsom had no immediate comment.
