NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!
FIRST ON FOX: House Republicans are rolling out a new oversight task force, starting with an investigation into alleged social services fraud in Ohio.
House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., tapped Rep. Brandon Gill, R-Texas, a member of the oversight panel, to lead the Task Force on Defending Constitutional Rights and Exposing Institutional Abuses, Fox News Digital has learned.
The duo sent a letter to Ohio Department of Medicaid Director Scott Partika on Tuesday to request documents related to a bombshell report in the Daily Wire, probing widespread fraud in the state’s Medicaid waiver program for home health and community-based services.
The outlet reported on 288 home health companies in Columbus, Ohio, that shared the same addresses, dozens of which were housed in office buildings that appeared to be vacant or in poor condition. The entities billed the federal government more than $250 million in Medicaid spending between 2018 and 2024, though the outlet’s reporting cast doubt on whether the companies billed Medicaid correctly or provided the services.
WHISTLEBLOWER WARNS MASSIVE FRAUD IS HAPPENING IN OHIO SOMALI COMMUNITY, MINNESOTA: ‘JUST TIP OF THE SPEAR’
“Americans deserve truth, transparency and justice,” Gill said in a statement obtained by Fox News Digital. “They are sick of being defrauded by government institutions and programs that should have been putting them first, not robbing their tax dollars.”
“Under his leadership, we will continue to expose radical ideologies being pushed on Americans and fight to safeguard our freedom that we’ve enjoyed as a nation for 250 years,” Comer said in a statement, adding that Gill, a freshman lawmaker, had become a pivotal player on the Oversight Committee.
Gill’s task force will have a broad purview, including investigating institutions that uphold diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policies, individuals who misuse immigration and social welfare programs, and efforts by foreign actors and dark money groups to censor Americans’ speech.
The panel’s creation comes as House Oversight Republicans are currently investigating social services fraud in Minnesota and California.
RAMASWAMY VOWS AGGRESSIVE MEDICAID CRACKDOWN AFTER REPORT ALLEGES MILLIONS BILLED FROM VACANT OHIO OFFICES
“The current Medicaid system either does not have sufficient internal controls to prevent and detect fraud or is not conducting proper oversight of these HCBS [Home and Community-Based Services] providers,” Comer and Gill wrote in the letter. “As a result, Americans across the country are paying for this fraud while vulnerable patients are being exploited.”
Comer has authorized the task force for six months, and Gill is expected to hold hearings at a later date.
Ohio Republican gubernatorial nominee Vivek Ramaswamy has pledged to scrutinize the state’s Medicaid spending if elected governor in November.
“We’re going to have to take a deep, hard look at the way the $40-plus billion in state Medicaid dollars are being spent,” Ramaswamy told “Saturday in America” host Kayleigh McEnany.
“I think the right answer is any instance of waste, fraud, abuse … deserve[s] to be prosecuted, and we intend to investigate them aggressively, as well as to prosecute aggressively, to send a deterrent signal that our government is not a piggy bank. The taxpayer is not a piggy bank to be bilked.”
The Ohio Department of Medicaid told the Daily Wire it has sufficient safeguards in place to combat fraud and had been investigating home health companies that may be abusing the system prior to the outlet’s reporting.
Read the full article here
