Trump administration officials announced a "war against fraud" in Medicaid and other government services, partnering with Ohio to tackle the issue in the Buckeye State.
Multiple federal leaders came to central Ohio Thursday to discuss anti-fraud efforts at the Defense Supply Center in Columbus, including acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, FBI Director Kash Patel and Dr. Mehmet Oz, administrator for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
Blanche discussed multiple cases that are being currently investigated in the state of Ohio.
“Ohio is leading the charge in the fight against fraud, and some states should take notice,” Blanche said. “Working closely with Ohio officials, the Department of Justice dismantled a sophisticated Medicaid fraud scheme that exploited taxpayers to fund exotic cars and lavish lifestyles. By holding these fraudsters accountable and partnering with the FBI on a robust Most Wanted fraudster list, we are pursuing fraud more aggressively than ever. No fraud scheme is beyond our reach.”
That included 14 people who were charged in schemes to defraud Ohio agencies and various other cases costing billions of dollars. These spanned Medicaid providers, behavioral health services for autistic people and a romance fraud scheme.
For example, officials said four people were charged in the Southern District of Ohio in connection with a behavioral health fraud scam that netted more than $30 million.
During the presser, the FBI announced the creation of its “Top 10 Most Wanted Fraudsters” initiative, which publicly identifies fugitives accused of fraud. The presented list only included eight people.
Vice President and Ohio native JD Vance was supposed to attend, but stayed in Washington because of votes in the U.S. Senate where Vance acts as a tiebreaker.
Multiple state elected officials were present including Attorney General Dave Yost, his soon-to-be replacement Department of Public Safety Director Andy Wilson, House Speaker Matt Huffman, Auditor Keith Faber, Treasurer Robert Sprague and Secretary of State Frank LaRose.
Gov. Mike DeWine was not present.
Republicans have said changes must be made to the system as it is to halt hundreds of millions of dollars in Medicaid fraud. This follows a report from a conservative national outlet of widespread fraud among home health providers in Ohio, though the state hasn’t fully confirmed or offered details.
Republicans have controlled state government since 2011. Legislative leaders have blamed DeWine and his former Medicaid director Maureen Corcoran for not doing more to halt fraud.
DeWine has proposed and exacted some changes to combat this, including freezing some suspect payments pending state and federal government investigations.
