The California Grift Goes On

Eighty percent of improper Medicaid payments nationwide reflect failures of eligibility, not bad-actor providers

Letter to The WSJ. 

"The California fraud story is even worse than your editorial points out (“The Great California Medicaid Grift,” May 16). The story’s central theme is that state leaders don’t care about fraud.

According to my organization’s freedom of information requests, California’s Department of Health Care Services referred only 127 Medicaid providers for fraud investigation between January and March. Yet CBS News found 89 hospice providers at a single address, 75 of which have racked up a combined 400 violations since 2021. The federal government has also suspended 800 hospice providers in the state this year. Is California even looking for fraud?

The real fraud story is that 80% of improper Medicaid payments nationwide reflect failures of eligibility, not bad-actor providers. California contributes to this crisis by letting people self-attest to key aspects of their eligibility, which is to say, it tolerates lying. The Trump administration should get California to start caring about fraud—to say nothing of every other state.

Hayden Dublois

Foundation for Government Accountability"