By admin 
PHOENIX (AZFamily)— Republican lawmakers and some behavioral health care providers claim that efforts to address Arizona Medicaid fraud have not gone far enough, despite state officials saying they have been cracking down for years.
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State Sen. Carine Werner, R-Scottsdale, and others held a news conference at the state Capitol to raise concerns about the AHCCCS system, Arizona’s Medicaid program.
“No one in our government has been held accountable for creating a system that allowed the fraud to occur or standing by while it infested our communities and destroyed families,” Werner said.
Fraud targets vulnerable populations
Attorney Heather Dukes said the fraud has impacted vulnerable Arizona families for years.
“They targeted Native Americans, stole staggering sums of money and they left people homeless, traumatized and in worst cases, dead,” Dukes said.
Reva Stewart, a Native American business owner, said family and friends are still being targeted by individuals trying to convince them to apply for services they do not need.
“They came to my store,” Stewart said. “We’re at a point where we have to educate our own people, educate families and tell them if you’re going to get help these are the red flags.”
Attorney general defends record
Werner said the governor and attorney general have not done enough to crack down on bad actors and create a system that better protects the public from patient brokering, unlicensed providers and exploitation.
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Last week, Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes held a news conference to address concerns about Medicaid fraud. She said her office has indicted 140 people and is actively working with the FBI to investigate every Medicaid fraud complaint that comes in.
Mayes said efforts are being made to address problems within the system. She said the Republican news conference was unnecessary and said she believed Werner was trying to score political points.
“She was grateful and thankful to my agents when they visited her but she turned this into a bullsh** political attack last night because that’s all Republicans like Werner know how to do,” Mayes said.
A number of bills are being considered at the state Legislature that would tighten up oversight of the AHCCS system. The governor announced last week that a new AI tool will soon be used to help weed out fraud in the Medicaid program.
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