WASHINGTON (TNND) — The war on fraud rages on in Washington, as accusations of people stealing money from Medicare and other government programs pile up.
From Minnesota to Maine, there are now mounting allegations after three audits found Gateway Community Services, also run by Somali Americans, overbilled by more than a million dollars. (TNND)
A viral video, accusing members of the Somali community in Minnesota of running fraudulent daycare and healthcare centers and billing the government for services not rendered, prompted lawmakers to hold multiple hearings on the matter.
In a Senate Homeland Security Committee hearing on Thursday, Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Miss., blamed Attorney General Keith Ellison of ignoring fraud allegations that came his way.
“You helped fraudsters defraud your state and this government of $9 billion and you got a fat campaign contribution out of it,” Hawley said. “I should call you a prisoner because you ought to be in jail.”
From Minnesota to Maine, there are now mounting allegations after three audits found Gateway Community Services, also run by Somali Americans, overbilled by more than a million dollars.
Additionally, a recently released report from the Office of the Inspector General, found Maine made more than $45 million in improper Medicaid payments to programs supposed to help children with Autism.
The Trump Administration is vowing to crack down.
In an interview with The National News Desk, Dr. Mehmet Oz, Administrator with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, talked about the findings.
“Here’s the concern. If there’s one child in the neighborhood with autism, we have services to go take care of that child. There’s money that goes to that family. But if every kid in the neighborhood claims they’re autistic because their parents say they are then now you’ve got no one in the neighborhood actually getting proper autism services,” Oz said.
Maine Governor Janet Mills called it a political attack, “from a President who uses allegations of fraud as a pretense to send ice and other weaponized federal agents into states led by Democrats with devastating consequences.”
Fraud in Minnesota was the initial reason for the surge of ICE agents.
Meanwhile, government watchdogs are calling for a revamping of the entire system. In an interview with The National News Desk, Peter Schweizer, President of the Government Accountability Institute, said,
What’s happened in Minnesota and a lot of other states is, it goes through nonprofit organizations, NGO’s. So it’s not the government that’s running these programs, but they don’t have the same oversight.
As far as the investigation in Maine, CMS Administrator Dr. Oz has asked Maine’s governor to respond to several questions about autism fraud allegations. He’s given her 30 days to respond.
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