{"id":100446,"date":"2026-01-14T20:44:19","date_gmt":"2026-01-14T20:44:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/100446\/"},"modified":"2026-01-14T20:44:19","modified_gmt":"2026-01-14T20:44:19","slug":"exclusive-new-york-spending-400m-on-senior-daycare-centers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/100446\/","title":{"rendered":"Exclusive | New York spending $400m on senior daycare centers"},"content":{"rendered":"

At the Golden Town Adult Social Day Care in Chinatown<\/a> on a recent Tuesday afternoon, a handful of elderly Chinese immigrants in their winter jackets picked at plates of lo mein and rice. <\/p>\n

Lunch is supplied by a local restaurant, where prices for a typical dish range around $7 to 12.<\/p>\n

But this is not a soup kitchen or lunch counter. It\u2019s a medical facility, and taxpayers spend $85 a plate at Golden Town, thanks to a Medicaid<\/a> money pit that invites savvy business owners to milk the system.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey just come in for lunch, that\u2019s about it,\u201d an employee of Golden Town Adult Day Care told The Post when asked what other services were provided by the Medicaid-funded center. Chadwick Moore<\/p>\n

The end of lunch service at Golden Town Social Day Care, located on Canal Street. Emmy Park for NY Post<\/p>\n

\u201cThey just come in for lunch,\u201d an employee of Golden Town told The Post when asked what other services were provided by the center. \u00a0<\/p>\n

They added transportation is offered for Golden Town\u2019s 100 clients, but most prefer to walk, especially \u201cif the weather is nice.\u201d<\/p>\n

Incredibly, the whole thing is completely legal, with the private owners of these centers taking advantage of a system which has very little oversight and costs New York taxpayers a $400 million tab annually, an investigation by The Post can reveal.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The entrance way to Golden Town adult day care, shared with other businesses. Emmy Park for NY Post<\/p>\n

The lunch room at Golden Town. Seniors eat rice, lo mein and other foods which are prepared by local restaurants. Emmy Park for NY Post<\/p>\n

The Social Adult Day Care centers (SADCs) are supposed to be exclusively for seniors with a \u201cchronic illness or disability.\u201d<\/p>\n

If Medicaid rules were strictly interpreted, such centers should not be \u201cletting in well-bodied seniors,\u201d a state Medicaid official who spoke on the condition of anonymity told The Post.<\/p>\n

\u201cBasically, you shouldn\u2019t see anyone going in those places who isn\u2019t in a wheelchair or walker,\u201d the source said.<\/p>\n

But those standards aren\u2019t enforced, and to operate, the rules are vague, with the centers required to provide \u201cnutrition,\u201d \u201cstructured activities,\u201d and \u201csocialization,\u201d according to the Department of Health.<\/p>\n

Across the river in Flushing, Queens, around 10 a.m. senior citizens began to scurry in and out of Excellence and Longevity Center \u2014 some to grab a to-go bag lunch before dashing off.<\/p>\n

Golden Town Social Adult Day Care is located on the second floor up this dilapidated stairwell, but it does also have elevator access for those who are in a wheelchair or unable to walk up the stairs. Chadwick Moore<\/p>\n

Inside, a group of clients aged 65+ played ping pong, rode stationary bikes, and enjoyed lunch.<\/p>\n

The number of SADC centers has jumped from 40 in 2013 to almost 400 today, popping up in storefronts, apartments, and basements across the five boroughs, even though their offerings are barely distinguishable from city-run senior centers, which also provide transport, lunch and activities \u2014, but for a fraction of the cost.<\/p>\n

The Post visited 13 SADCs in Brooklyn, Queens and Manhattan over three days and found little evidence of any medical support being offered or administered.<\/p>\n

A client at Enriched Adult Day Care in New Utrecht, Brooklyn enjoys lunch provided by the center at an estimated cost of $85 a person per day to taxpayers, according to another center worker. Stefano Giovannini for NY Post<\/p>\n

A client celebrates her 69th birthday at Enriched Adult Social Day Care in Brooklyn where administrator Olga said her facility serves 200 clients daily, each billed by Medicaid. Stefano Giovannini for NY Post<\/p>\n

And competition between facilities is intense, with owners jockeying for repeat visitors \u2014 because they can charge so much back to Medicaid.<\/p>\n

A worker at Confucius Social Adult Day Care in Manhattan confirmed to The Post kickbacks and bribes are rampant in the industry \u2014 and some daycares lure seniors in with promises of grocery vouchers or cash if they sign up for their program, although he made it clear Confucius doesn\u2019t engage in that practice and the center has also not been accused of any wrongdoing.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not clear if even the seniors themselves know the difference between Adult Day Cares and state-run senior centers.<\/p>\n

The Medicaid-funded facilities are intended for \u201cnursing home eligible\u201d seniors with chronic disorders who require special attention. Stefano Giovannini for NY Post<\/p>\n

Seniors exercise and play ping pong at Excellence and Longevity Center in Queens, one of 373 centers in the city funded by Medicaid to socialized ailing seniors who have \u201d functional impairments and need a higher level of care\u201d than senior centers can offer, according to state requirements. Stefano Giovannini for NY Post<\/p>\n

\u201cIf they are letting in well-bodied seniors who are not eligible then that is wrongdoing,\u201d a state Medicaid official told The Post. \u201cIf you see seniors jogging to an SADC grabbing a box lunch and leaving, then that shouldn\u2019t be happening.\u201d Stefano Giovannini for NY Post<\/p>\n

The New York State Department of Health estimates that Medicaid spent approximately $400 million on SADC in 2024, but number-crunching by The Post suggests it may be much higher. Stefano Giovannini for NY Post<\/p>\n

A spokesperson confirmed to The Post that the Department of Health \u201cestimates approximately $400 million was reimbursed\u201d through Medicaid for SADCs in 2024.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe rules on this are extremely complicated,\u201d Chris Pope, a health care policy expert with the Manhattan Institute, told The Post.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is sold as keeping people out of nursing homes.\u00a0[But if] people aren\u2019t really at risk of ending up in nursing homes,\u00a0it\u2019s definitely worth asking, is that legitimate?\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

There are a variety of different reasons for seniors to go to daycare centers and none of the businesses visited by The Post for this story have been accused of doing anything illegal.<\/p>\n

Flushing\u2013known as Queens\u2019s Chinatown\u2013is a hotspot for SADCs, with a dozen facilities clustered in the bustling, colorful neighborhood. Stefano Giovannini for NY Post<\/p>\n

New York State has projected it will spend $115 billion on Medicaid this year\u2013a gob-smacking sum that\u2019s neck-and-neck with California, which has double the population. Stefano Giovannini for NY Post<\/p>\n

In the mid-2010s under Gov. Andrew Cuomo, New York State aggressively switched to this \u201ccommunity-based\u201d system for long term care, billed as a way to cut spending.<\/p>\n

But it hasn\u2019t worked and New York\u2019s Medicaid spending has ballooned from $50 billion a year to a gob-smacking $96 billion in 2025, while the population of seniors has only grown by about 30 percent during that time.<\/p>\n

A Medicaid fraud case revealed last June\u00a0exposed $68 million<\/a>\u00a0was being stolen from taxpayers in a scheme involving two SADCs in Brooklyn. Owner Zakia Khan\u2019s racket paid kickbacks and bribes to marketers for referring Medicaid recipients to her SADCs from 2017 onward.<\/p>\n

There are 373 Social Adult Day Cares in New York City, up from 40 in 2013. But an investigation by The Post found the services provided to be indistinguishable from city-funded senior centers, which do not receive funding from the infinite stream of federal Medicaid. Stefano Giovannini for NY Post<\/p>\n

In the decade since New York aggressively switched to a \u201ccommunity-based\u201d approach to managed long term care for seniors its Medicaid spending has doubled, from $50 billion in 2013 to $96 billion in 2025 and is projected to reach a staggering $115 billion this year. Stefano Giovannini for NY Post<\/p>\n

In 2024, ElderServe, Inc. a healthcare provider, paid a\u00a0$10.1 million settlement\u00a0<\/a>for billing Medicaid for services that weren\u2019t provided, including SADC. In 2018 another provider, Centers Plan for Healthy Living, paid\u00a0$1.6 million\u00a0<\/a>back to the state after it was caught enrolling seniors in SADCs who didn\u2019t meet the requirements.<\/p>\n

New York spends the most Medicaid money per patient than any other state and 77 percent more than the national average. New York\u2019s spending is almost double the second-most costly state in per-person cost, Kentucky.<\/p>\n

This year New York projects its\u00a0spending will reach $115 billion,<\/a>\u00a0according to the NYS Comptroller\u2019s Office, putting it neck-and-neck with California \u2014 which has double the population.<\/p>\n

Pool tables line a downstairs room of Enriched Adult Day Care center in Brooklyn, where administrator Olga says they serve 200 clients a day. Stefano Giovannini for NY Post<\/p>\n

New York vastly outspends the competition in Medicaid dollars per patient, soaring 77 percent above the national average and blowing more money on Medicaid than every other state, save California. <\/p>\n

Texas and Florida, both more populous than the Empire State, spend a fraction of what New York does on Medicaid.<\/p>\n

The costs of SADCs are counted alongside other Home and Community-Based Services (HCBS), by the state, which also includes the Consumer Directed Personal Assistance Program (CDPAP), which pays people by the hour to look after their elderly relatives in their homes,\u00a0and is notoriously fraudulent.<\/a><\/p>\n

HCBS is the largest single expense in New York\u2019s Medicaid spending, costing taxpayers $10.6 billion in 2024, according to a breakdown reviewed by the Post.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re seeing fraud all over the country. I think it\u2019s time the federal government gets involved and starts looking into New York State, as well as New York City,\u201d Republican city council member Vickie Paladino, of District 19 in Queens, told The Post.<\/p>\n

\u201cLet\u2019s find out where all the money\u2019s going. Let Minneapolis be the blueprint for these big blue cities. It\u2019s time for a major audit.\u201d<\/p>\n

Zakia Khan was convicted in 2025 for defrauding $68 million from Medicaid in a scheme that involved two Social Adult Day Care centers she ran. Happy SADC<\/p>\n

New York City\u2019s 300 senior centers receive a lump sum for operations from the city budget, whereas SADCs are billed like a doctor\u2019s visit \u2014 based on utilization, rather than enrollment.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are important distinctions. [Senior center] membership is open to all New Yorkers ages 60 and older. [They] serve meals, and in-person and virtual activities are designed to meet the needs of their members.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cSADC\u2019s serve adults with functional impairments and need a higher level of care than OACs can provide,\u201d a spokesperson for the Department of the Aging told The Post.<\/p>\n

Enriched Adult Day Care\u2013decorated for the holidays with Christmas trees, a black baby grand piano, and a prize wheel\u2013offers a beauty salon and lunch to the 200 Medicaid patients enrolled there. Stefano Giovannini for NY Post<\/p>\n

Half of all complaints in 2022 about SADCs related to Medicaid fraud, according to the NYC Department for the Aging.<\/p>\n

The state\u2019s Medicaid fraud investigation unit referred 454 cases to the Attorney General\u2019s office that year, but that office refused to comment on how many of those were being actively investigated.<\/p>\n

The facilities at elder daycares can also fluctuate wildly. At Enriched Adult Day Care in New Utrecht, Brooklyn, administrator Olga took The Post on a tour of the facility, which included a beauty salon, arts and crafts room, a library, and ping pong table. A client was celebrating her 69th birthday and a handful of seniors sat around a table playing dominos. Olga said her facility serves 200 clients daily.<\/p>\n

The vibe shifted down the street at another facility, New Century Adult Day Care, where in a large open room sat one lone senior tucked away in a corner, his reflection visible from a floor-to-ceiling dance studio-style mirror.<\/p>\n

A man who appeared to be the manager hurried The Post out the door and refused to answer any questions.<\/p>\n

Several SADCs mentioned and photographed for this story did not return requests for comment. None have been implicated in any illegal activity.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"At the Golden Town Adult Social Day Care in Chinatown on a recent Tuesday afternoon, a handful of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":100447,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[9098,396,7050,57,9,24,55,54,56,2956,58],"class_list":{"0":"post-100446","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york-city","8":"tag-chinatown","9":"tag-fraud","10":"tag-medicaid","11":"tag-metro","12":"tag-new-york","13":"tag-new-york-city","14":"tag-new-york-city-headlines","15":"tag-new-york-city-news","16":"tag-ny","17":"tag-senior-citizens","18":"tag-us-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100446","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=100446"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100446\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/100447"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=100446"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=100446"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=100446"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}