New York is about to get the Oz treatment.<\/p>\n
Medicaid czar Dr. Mehmet Oz is turning up the heat on Gov. Kathy Hochul, launching an investigation into the state\u2019s massive $124 billion Medicaid program<\/a> \u2014 which he has claimed is rife with waste, fraud and abuse, The Post has learned.<\/p>\n In a letter sent to Hochul Tuesday, Oz, who heads the US Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, posed 50 questions scrutinizing what she and her team are doing to control costs and identify and prevent fraud.<\/p>\n Dr. Mehmet Oz is launching an investigation into New York\u2019s massive $124 billion Medicaid program JIM LO SCALZO\/EPA\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n \u201cI am formally requesting detailed information regarding program integrity and provider screening and enrollment oversight within New York\u2019s Medicaid program. This request is necessary to ensure public confidence and protect beneficiaries in your state\u2019s Medicaid program,\u201d said Oz.<\/p>\n Medicaid is the public health insurance program for those in need, with costs split among the federal, state and local governments.<\/p>\n \u201cThe data is clear. New York far outspends other states on its Medicaid program on a statewide and per beneficiary basis,\u201d Oz said in the letter, also sent to state Health Commissioner Dr. James McDonald, state Medicaid Director Amir Bassiri and acting Medicaid Inspector General Frank Walsh Jr.<\/p>\n New York\u2019s average spending on each Medicaid beneficiary is $12,528 \u2014 36% higher than the national average, he said.<\/p>\n \u201cNew York\u2019s average Medicaid spending per resident was the highest in the country \u2014 nearly 80% higher than the national average,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cThese elevated costs reflect a combination of more New Yorkers enrolled in Medicaid relative to the state\u2019s population, potential fraud, expansive benefit structures, and excessive provider payment levels within New York\u2019s program compared with most other states,\u201d Oz added.<\/p>\n Members of the 1199 S.E.I.U. Healthcare Workers Union hold up signs opposing the healthcare cuts at 1545 Atlantic Avenue, Brooklyn, New York. Gregory P. Mango<\/p>\n Medicaid is the public health insurance program for those in need, with costs split among the federal, state and local governments. Gregory P. Mango<\/p>\n More than 6.8 million New Yorkers \u2014 34% of the state\u2019s population \u2014 are currently covered by Medicaid<\/p>\n Oz said one of the leading drivers of Medicaid\u2019s explosive growth is the increase in the number of workers serving elderly New Yorkers in home care, adult day care and personal care programs.<\/p>\n He also pointed to criminal fraud uncovered by the Justice Department \u2014 including two Brooklyn scammers who pleaded guilty to <\/a>defrauding a whopping $68 million from the state\u2019s Medicaid home care program by paying health care kickbacks for services they didn\u2019t provide at three Big Apple businesses.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\tStart your day with all you need to know\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMorning Report delivers the latest news, videos, photos and more.\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\tThanks for signing up!\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n In another case, 10 defendants were arrested in a home health aide fraud scheme, where Medicaid was billed for home health services that were never provided.<\/p>\n The Post also recently\u00a0uncovered how the\u00a0state allegedly lost millions of taxpayer money<\/a> to scammers through the Consumer Directed Personal Assistance Program and how it spends up to $400 million a year on Social Adult Day Care centers, which mostly duplicate the offerings of senior centers.<\/p>\n \u201cThese cases expose ongoing program integrity vulnerabilities within the New York State Medicaid program and home and community-based service delivery system that warrant structural program-integrity measures given the scale of such services,\u201d Oz said.<\/p>\n Additionally, the letter stated that CMS found a 121% increase in spending on non-medical transportation <\/a>services in the last three months of data surveyed.<\/p>\n ACT UP NYC takes their first health-focused direct action of the second Trump administration at the NYC AIDS Memorial and march to a lower Manhattan Tesla showroom on March 29, 2025, in New York City. Michael Nigro<\/p>\n He also expressed concern that some of the same providers billed Medicaid for adult day care and transportation services, a practice that could invite \u201ccoordinated fraud\u201d via recruitment schemes, phantom rides, inflated mileage claims and for transportation to adult day care sessions \u201cthat never occurred.\u201d<\/p>\n Oz also said spending on mental health\/psychotherapy services appeared to be high.<\/p>\n He has launched similar probes in California <\/a>and Minnesota<\/a>.<\/p>\n In a statement released Tuesday, Hochul defended her administration\u2019s efforts to curb waste, fraud and abuse \u2014 including in home care or the Consumer Directed Personal Assistance Program [CDPAP].<\/p>\n Dr. Oz is turning up the heat on Hochul, launching an investigation into New York\u2019s massive $124 billion Medicaid program. FOX 5<\/p>\n Governor Hochul and Democratic House leader Hakeem Jeffries held a press conference at the Interfaith Medical Center on June 1, 2025. Gregory P. Mango<\/p>\n \u201cWell before the Trump administration even took office, Governor Hochul was leading efforts to root out waste, fraud and abuse \u2014 including sweeping CDPAP 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,\u201d the statement said.<\/p>\n \u201cNew York will continue to work with the federal government to identify bad actors, just as we did when we partnered with the Justice Department on the successful investigation cited in this letter.\u201d<\/p>\n The governor\u2019s office statement then claimed Republicans are trying to cut health care services funded by Medicaid.<\/p>\n \u201cBut let\u2019s 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,\u201d the Hochul statement said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"New York is about to get the Oz treatment. Medicaid czar Dr. Mehmet Oz is turning up the…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":629956,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[35],"tags":[69,98670,210,1141,1142,5371,3170,5248,67,132,68,1154],"class_list":["post-629955","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health-care","tag-donald-trump","tag-dr-oz","tag-health","tag-health-care","tag-healthcare","tag-kathy-hochul","tag-medicaid","tag-metro","tag-united-states","tag-unitedstates","tag-us","tag-us-news"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116167079853828072","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/629955","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=629955"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/629955\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/629956"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=629955"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=629955"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=629955"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}