Federal Medicaid czar Dr. Mehmet Oz said New York\u2019s overblown $110 billion spending on medical bills is sickening \u2014 as he claimed Chinese crime syndicates are ripping off the Empire State.<\/p>\n
The TV doctor-turned-Trump administration official, blasted New York\u2019s Medicaid program as rife with fraud in an interview Sunday as he outlined an alleged scheme that included millions of dollars in fraudulent medical bills<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cSocial safety net programs are being defrauded. They\u2019re being hurt oftentimes by foreign governments or foreign-run criminal syndicate organizations,\u201d Oz, administrator of the US Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, said Sunday on 77 WABC \u2018s the \u201cCats Roundtable\u201d program.<\/p>\n Dr. Mehmet Oz showed a chart of Medicare payments for allografts from 2019 to 2026 on July 8, 2026. via REUTERS<\/p>\n Oz recently toured Flushing, Queens where a cluster of 64 social adult care centers<\/a> operate \u2014 mostly serving ethnic Chinese and Korean senior citizens. Officials claim the center and pharmacies have generated massive amounts of questionable bills to Medicaid, a public insurance program intended to help the needy.<\/p>\n The social centers arguably shouldn\u2019t be propped up by taxpayers, Oz said. The federal government covers more than half of Medicaid\u2019s costs, with the state and local governments covering the rest.<\/p>\n \u201cNormally, the government doesn\u2019t pay for it. In New York, they\u2019ve created a mechanism to pay for these programs,\u201d Oz told host John Catsimatidis.<\/p>\n \u201cThese are run, we believe, under the auspices of the Chinese organized criminal groups that are also doing human trafficking in the East Coast.\u201d<\/p>\n He didn\u2019t specify which organizations may be behind the scheme or provide further details.<\/p>\n Oz, who had been joined on the tour by independent journalist Nick Shirley, said he was stunned by the plethora of pharmacies in Flushing that he also suspects are milking Medicaid.<\/p>\n Oz claimed Chinese crime syndicates are running a Medicaid scheme in New York. Annap \u2013 stock.adobe.com<\/p>\n Under the scheme, the scammers will bribe seniors to get access to their Medicaid or Medicare cards, and then submit fraudulent bills to the Medicaid program.<\/p>\n \u201cThere are a dozen pharmacies on one block. Why? They\u2019re all fake. They\u2019re taking these Medicare beneficiary numbers and manufacturing huge businesses to fund illegal activities,\u201d Oz said.<\/p>\n \u201cThey pretend they\u2019re sending this really expensive wheelchair [to a patient],\u201d he railed. \u201cThey pretend that they\u2019re sending expensive random medications. They\u2019re doing appointments they [patients] never go to. Tests they never get. Treatments they don\u2019t receive or don\u2019t need.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd they begin to bankrupt all the legitimate people, because they make so much money \u2026 These programs have generated $2.1 billion against New York Medicaid.\u201d<\/p>\n He said New York is encouraging the bloated spending and fraud, calling the questionable add-on programs such as social adult day care and personal care services a \u201cfeature\u201d not just a \u201cflaw.\u201d<\/p>\n Earlier this year, Oz opened an investigation <\/a>into New York\u2019s Medicaid program, the most expensive per resident in the nation, claiming it was rife with waste, fraud and abuse.<\/p>\n Oz said New York\u2019s personal care program, where relatives get paid to take care of a loved one at home, has also spiraled out of control.<\/p>\n He said New York is allowing the powerful health care workers union, SEIU Local 1199, to unionize the personal care attendants.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a jobs program,\u201d Oz claimed. \u201cWe learned that the unions are now unionizing these people, which means the federal government is paying salaries that go to union dues, and then the union dues fund the campaigns of the Democrats in the state. So now, you have political patronage on top of a jobs program,,<\/p>\n In a dig at Hochul, Oz said, \u201cIs that a really smart thing to do if you lead the State of New York?\u201d<\/p>\n Oz also said he is working with Vice President JD Vance, the IRS, and more agencies to investigate Medicaid fraud. Bloomberg via Getty Images<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019re using the federal government as a piggy bank,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n