Oz Freezes $1.2 Billion in California Medicaid Funds Over Home-Care Fraud Claims
Updated
Updated · POLITICO · Oct 21
Oz Freezes $1.2 Billion in California Medicaid Funds Over Home-Care Fraud Claims
3 articles · Updated · POLITICO · Oct 21
Summary
$1.2 billion in California Medicaid funding will be withheld by CMS, targeting payments for nonmedical in-home services such as grocery shopping, meal preparation and house cleaning.
Mehmet Oz offered no evidence for fraud allegations but said California's program grew 24% over three years—about twice the average pace of other states.
California previously said higher in-home care spending reflects more eligible Medi-Cal patients seeking services, and argued each year of home care can avoid about $100,000 in nursing-home costs per patient.
The move marks the third funding freeze this year after CMS held back more than $1 billion tied to hospice care in May and $867 million in July; none of those funds have been released.