FLUSHING, N.Y. — Dr. Mehmet Oz, serving as Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator, spearheaded a sweeping federal operation targeting egregious Medicaid fraud in New York City. In an exclusive look for Fox News Digital, Dr. Oz confronted employees at two senior care centers, challenging their billing practices and revealing a disturbing pattern of alleged taxpayer abuse.
Accompanied by senior federal health officials and with the backing of the FBI, the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General, and the NYPD, Oz personally delivered warning letters to Kent Senior Care and Evergreen Adult Day Care in Flushing, Queens. These were just two of over 80 facilities across New York City served with similar warnings on a single day, signaling a robust commitment to rooting out corruption that has long plagued the system.
"The whole experience was suspicious," Oz told Fox News Digital following the visits. He detailed a broader crackdown involving arrests, search warrants, and actions to prevent certain operators from continuing to bill Medicaid, underscoring the severity of the challenge.
The first stop at Kent Senior Care, early Tuesday morning, saw Oz directly hand a federal government letter to the director, immediately challenging inflated billing figures against the facility's observed occupancy. "The bills are much higher than they should be," Oz stated, noting the facility "doesn't look very crowded here." When the director insisted on accurate billing and future arrivals, Oz cut to the chase: "The bills we're getting are as though it's completely full all the time." The director's defense of signing attendance sheets was met with a stark reply: "You're getting this letter from the U.S. Government because we don't believe you."
The confrontation intensified as federal officials questioned specialized transportation services, particularly for wheelchair users, despite a noticeable absence of wheelchairs. When confronted, the director offered a revealing excuse: "Probably he just copy and pasted," suggesting a systemic laziness or outright fraud in billing practices. This casual admission of potential billing negligence, where taxpayer dollars are at stake, speaks volumes about the unchecked environment that has allowed such practices to flourish.
Dr. Oz then moved to the mahjong tables, questioning whether American taxpayers should be funding recreational games when essential services like "life-saving heart surgery" or "new therapies for cancer" are the intended recipients of Medicaid funds. "It's free for them, not free for the taxpayers," Oz pointed out, highlighting the stark disconnect between program intent and reality, a clear example of government waste under an unsupervised system.
Further scrutiny of Kent Senior Care's operations revealed seniors freely entering without signing in, contradicting the director's claims. "People were just walking in there without signing anything," Oz observed, noting that only after his team arrived did staff begin to enforce sign-ins. This apparent lack of basic accountability raises profound questions about the legitimacy of attendance records and the services being billed to Medicaid.
At Evergreen Adult Day Care, similar discrepancies emerged. Despite claims of up to 200 seniors daily, Oz noted a mere 25 individuals during his visit. The floor manager's explanations about seniors being in classes or shopping failed to satisfy Oz: "The numbers don't seem to add up." The visit took a particularly alarming turn when Oz examined attendance books, which he unequivocally declared contained "fraud." Sign-in sheets showed names entered for future dates, October 22nd and 23rd, exposing a brazen disregard for accurate record-keeping and potentially pre-planned fraudulent billing.
Dr. Oz did not mince words when discussing the larger criminal enterprise. Federal authorities, he revealed, believe organized criminal networks, including individuals described as connected to the "Chinese mafia," are exploiting these Medicaid-funded programs. He alleged seniors are paid between $1,000 and $1,200 to participate in these schemes, with the proceeds financing other heinous crimes like money laundering and human trafficking. "It's really a clubhouse for crime," Oz asserted, painting a grim picture of how taxpayer funds are allegedly being diverted to fuel illicit activities.
Oz highlighted that fraud accelerated dramatically during the COVID-19 pandemic, faulting the "previous administration" for its failure to address rapidly rising spending and suspicious billing, with annual program costs approaching $1 billion. This crackdown, acknowledged by New York Governor Kathy Hochul, is a crucial step towards restoring integrity to a system that has been systematically abused, allowing American tax dollars to be funneled away from those who truly need help and into the hands of criminals.
This aggressive federal intervention led by Dr. Oz sends a clear message: the era of unchecked fraud and waste is over. The America First agenda demands accountability for every taxpayer dollar, ensuring that vital programs like Medicaid serve their intended purpose for the vulnerable, not as a slush fund for corrupt operators and organized crime. Protecting our seniors and holding criminals accountable are non-negotiable pillars of a nation committed to law and order and sound fiscal management.
