{"id":1355,"date":"2026-08-05T20:12:28","date_gmt":"2026-08-05T20:12:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/urbaneconomynews.com\/?p=1355"},"modified":"2026-08-05T20:12:28","modified_gmt":"2026-08-05T20:12:28","slug":"federal-review-finds-90-percent-of-maines-autism-support-services-lack-justification","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/urbaneconomynews.com\/?p=1355","title":{"rendered":"Federal Review Finds 90 Percent of Maine\u2019s Autism Support Services Lack Justification"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz revealed Tuesday that federal investigators have found widespread irregularities in Maine\u2019s support services for adults with autism.<\/p>\n

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Speaking Tuesday during a Department of Justice anti-fraud press conference in Philadelphia, Oz said investigators have found that 90 percent of autism services provided by the blue state lacked justification.<\/p>\n

\u201cYesterday I was in Maine,\u201d Oz said. \u201cWe\u2019re investigating home support services, just like you\u2019re seeing here, for adults, in that case, who have autism.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have massive increases that have grown to the kinds of numbers you could not imagine being able to show on a clipboard, with 90 percent of services billed and paid for\u2014in Maine in particular\u2014where there is no justifiable backup for it,\u201d Oz said. \u201cNine out of ten services, you can\u2019t justify they should have happened. It\u2019s the opposite of what you\u2019d normally expect.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Trump administration has been urging states to increase oversight of Medicaid autism services, and examine whether a massive surge of spending on a new therapy called \u201capplied behavior analysis\u201d is medically appropriate, Axios reported.<\/p>\n

Far-left Maine Democrat Senate candidate Troy Jackson\u2019s health care platform is focused on passing a government run \u201cMedicare for All\u201d insurance system to replace the current system.<\/p>\n

During the press conference Tuesday, state and federal prosecutors announced charges of 19 defendants in connection with a $4 million scheme to defraud government-run Medicare and Medicaid system in Pennsylvania.<\/p>\n

Federal officials detailed several new anti-fraud initiatives, including \u201cexpanded Medicaid Strike Forces, new investigative toolkits for states and enhanced data analytics designed to identify suspicious billing patterns before taxpayer money is paid,\u201d Maine Wire<\/em> reported.<\/p>\n

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Oz did not identify the providers under review, specify the total amount of claims being examined or announce any criminal charges connected to Maine. He also did not allege that every unsupported claim constituted fraud. Instead, he said the findings demonstrate the need for significantly greater oversight of Medicaid-funded home support programs.<\/p>\n

Nevertheless, his remarks represent a major escalation in the Trump administration\u2019s examination of MaineCare spending.<\/p>\n

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Federal officials have spent months reviewing Maine\u2019s administration of Medicaid-funded autism and developmental disability services. Earlier this year, federal auditors questioned tens of millions of dollars in payments involving rehabilitative and community support services while requesting additional records from the Mills administration concerning providers and billing practices.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Oz said programs that were originally designed to help disabled Americans have increasingly become vehicles for fraud.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have no tolerance for anyone who invents hours, invents a disability, invents a workforce at the expense of people who depend on these programs,\u201d Oz said. \u201cAnd if you love these most vulnerable Americans, you should care as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

The CMS administrator told reporters that the COVID-19 pandemic was the catalyst for the explosion of fraudulent Medicaid schemes currently plaguing the country.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat happened in 2020 that has catalyzed this?\u201d Oz asked. \u201cCOVID appears to have unleashed massive fraud because criminals knew the federal government would not follow up on the money that was being sent out.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Trump administration, he said, has adopted an \u201call-of-government\u201d strategy deploying the Department of Justice, the Department of Health and Human Services, the FBI, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the IRS Criminal Investigation Division and state attorneys general to identify and prosecute Medicaid fraud.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re not just stealing money, they\u2019re stealing our trust,\u201d Oz said of the fraudsters. \u201cAnd that\u2019s a much more difficult thing to replace.\u201d<\/p>\n

At the close of the nearly two-hour long presser, Assistant Attorney General Colin McDonald delivered a stern warning to those defrauding government health care programs.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe era of getting rich off the backs of our programs for our sick, elderly and disabled is over,\u201d McDonald said. \u201cYour time is up.\u201d<\/p>\n

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