Representative David Schweikert (R-AZ) pushed for the passage of his Combating Deceptive Practices in Assistance Programs Acton social media in response to an exposé on Medicaid fraud by the Daily Wire.
Journalist Luke Rosiak released a series of X posts titled "Medicaid Millionaires," which exposed the depth of Medicaid fraud throughout the United States, with a focus on Ohio.
In response to Rosiak's article, Rep. Schweikert shared data from New York, which he previously emphasized in the introduction of his Combating Deceptive Practices in Assistance Programs Act, writing, "New York has 171 home health aides per 1,000 seniors. The U.S. average is 68. That is not normal. That is Medicaid fraud on a massive scale, and taxpayers are being forced to fund it. My bill would fix that."
Rep. Schweikert's Combating Deceptive Practices in Assistance Programs Act would require home healthcare program recipients to prove they cannot perform three or more Activities of Daily Living (ADLs), such as eating, bathing, dressing, grooming, and general mobility.
The Arizona congressman focused on New York in explaining the depth of Medicaid fraud due to the Empire State's Consumer Directed Personal Assistance Program (CDPAP) that allows eligible individuals to choose their own caregiver, including friends or family members. If that caregiver is not properly trained, it can make the system easily exploitable.
In April, Schweikert addressed the full House Ways and Means Committee hearing on Medicare fraud, emphasizing the need to develop "a database" to prevent fraud in the first place.
"It is time to develop a model, a database, that this money never, ever, ever, ever, goes out the door," Schweikert urged, "so we can stop having hearings so we can tell each other how wonderful we are, about how we ae going to go after waste and fraud, and then we never enact the bills to do it."
