\u201cDon\u2019t look, don\u2019t think\u201d looks to be the attitude politicians from state Sen. John Liu to Gov. Kathy Hochul to then-Health Secretary Xavier Becerra took to what seems blatant Medicaid fraud in Flushing.<\/p>\n
Donations and other political support may help explain the New York pols\u2019 obliviousness, though like Becerra these Democrats seem to think stopping fraud is a waste of taxpayer money. <\/p>\n
The Post\u2019s Chadwick Moore uncovered a trail of campaign contributions to Hochul<\/a> and other pols from owners of some Flushing\u2019s biggest Social Adult Day-Care businesses \u2014 centers that were empty of clients when our reporters visited (though none yet stands accused of wrongdoing).<\/p>\n In 2022, Hochul\u2019s campaign took in $55,000 from adult day-care operators who billed Medicaid more than $40 million since 2018.<\/p>\n Her campaign allegedly solicited the donations, with the day-care operators urged to participate.\u00a0<\/p>\n Baoli Zhang, a major owner of SADCs, also gave $7,800 to Rep. Grace Meng (D-Queens) and $4,950 to Liu.<\/p>\n \t\t\tMore From\t\t\t\t\t\t\tPost Editorial Board<\/p>\n Like many government-regulated businesses, SADC want politicians\u2019 goodwill; donations don\u2019t necessarily buy a license to steal, but they do discourage questions. <\/p>\n And many Democrats frown on anti-fraud efforts<\/a>, fearing that exposing theft will undermine public support for these programs: That\u2019s presumably why Biden-era Health and Human Services chief Becerra (now running for California governor) slashed HHS\u2019s anti-fraud shop from 80 investigators to just six, and why state Attorney General Tish James runs one of the laziest anti-Medicaid-fraud <\/a>shops in the country.<\/p>\n