fraud<\/a> in federally funded, state-administered programs such as Medicaid, SNAP benefits and unemployment insurance.<\/p>\n\u201cIs there fraud in federally funded state-run programs? Absolutely,\u201d said Robert Westbrooks, a former federal inspector general. \u201cIt\u2019s where the money is and fraudsters don\u2019t sufficiently fear getting caught.\u201d<\/p>\n
The hearing highlighted several high-profile cases, including the $250 million \u201cFeeding Our Future\u201d scheme in Minnesota and a $100 million welfare scandal in Mississippi. Lawmakers said those cases may represent only a fraction of the problem.<\/p>\n
In Kentucky, State Auditor Allison Ball testified her office uncovered more than $1 billion in waste, fraud and abuse in just over two years. Among the findings: deceased individuals are still listed on Medicaid rolls and multiple people are using the same Social Security number to receive benefits.<\/p>\n
“This is a nonpartisan issue,” said Ball. “If we take waste fraud and abuse seriously, we can ensure that every family gets the needed assistance without breaking the backs of American taxpayers.” <\/p>\n
Oversight Committee Chairman Rep. James Comer criticized what he described as a lack of urgency among some state and local leaders.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s just an attitude that it\u2019s no big deal,\u201d Comer said. \u201cIt\u2019s government money, it comes down like mana from heaven.”<\/p>\n
A new poll from the State Financial Officers Foundation suggests the issue is resonating with the public. The survey found 87% of Americans are concerned about fraud or misuse of taxpayer dollars, and 83% believe it contributes to higher taxes and rising costs.<\/p>\n
OJ Oleka, the organization\u2019s CEO, said those concerns cut across political and demographic lines.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe American people feel it,\u201d Oleka said in an interview. \u201cThey are tying fraud and wasteful spending to the affordability crisis.\u201d<\/p>\n
Federal and state officials are also pointing to ongoing enforcement efforts. In California, authorities recently charged 21 people in connection with a $267 million hospice fraud scheme. Separately, Vice President JD Vance\u2019s anti-fraud task force announced it has suspended hundreds of hospice and home health providers amid a broader investigation involving more than $600 million in suspected fraud.<\/p>\n
Lawmakers say new legislation introduced Wednesday \u2014 the Fraud Accountability and Prevention Act \u2014 aims to stop improper payments before taxpayer dollars are distributed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"WASHINGTON (TNND) \u2014 Lawmakers on the House Oversight Committee are raising alarms about widespread fraud in government assistance…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":270580,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[151,153,152],"class_list":["post-270579","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-bakersfield","tag-bakersfield","tag-bakersfield-headlines","tag-bakersfield-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/270579","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=270579"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/270579\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/270580"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=270579"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=270579"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=270579"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}