Over $1.2 billion is estimated to have been stolen from the federal government through fraudulent Medicaid bills in Ohio.
The House Task Force on Defending Constitutional Rights and Exposing Institutional Abuses, chaired by Representative Brandon Gill of Texas, held its first hearing last week to investigate reports of ongoing Medicaid fraud occurring in Ohio. Witnesses testified that the same individuals involved in the fraud discovered in Minnesota have engaged in similar scams in the Ohio communities.
Initial reports show that hundreds of sham home healthcare companies have billed Medicaid for services that were never provided. One congressional witness confirmed that millions in cash were transferred from Columbus to Minnesota to Somalia. It is estimated that more than $1.2 billion in taxpayer funding has been stolen from the federal government by such scams in Ohio over the last few years.
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz recently visited Columbus, Ohio, where a large portion of the fraudulent Medicaid billing is believed to have originated. According to Dr. Oz, “Franklin County, [in Columbus], by itself accounts more than a third of the billion and a half dollars spent on home health care in Ohio. That is three times more than what would be expected… Over a third of the entire state’s home health care budget goes to this county.”
Dr. Oz pledged to continue to address the fraudulent behavior and prevent fraudsters from “using Medicaid as a piggy bank.”
As the Lord Leads, Pray with Us…
- For Dr. Oz to be prudent in his actions to prevent fraudulent Medicaid billing in Ohio and other states.
- For Chairman Gill and the members of the House task force as they further investigate instances of fraud in the U.S.
- For federal and state officials as they continue to probe and address healthcare scams.
Sources: MSN, Daily Wire, Oversight.House.gov
