AP Exclusive: Trump administration admits a glaring error in its New York health fraud accusations
Yahoo • • nation
Key Points:
- The Trump administration admitted to a significant error in its figures used to justify a fraud probe into New York’s Medicaid program, overstating personal care service recipients from about 450,000 to 5 million.
- CMS Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz's claims about New York’s Medicaid program, including inflated utilization rates and lenient eligibility standards, were challenged by state officials and health advocates as inaccurate and misleading.
- The Medicaid fraud investigation in New York is part of a broader federal crackdown on potential fraud in multiple states, with an anti-fraud task force led by Vice President JD Vance temporarily halting $243 million in Medicaid funding to Minnesota.
- Critics argue that the Trump administration’s aggressive and politicized approach to fraud investigations undermines collaborative efforts to improve Medicaid program integrity and support vulnerable beneficiaries.
- Medicaid recipients and advocates condemned Oz’s characterization of personal care services as tasks families would normally perform, emphasizing the essential support these services provide to individuals with disabilities.
