NY Attorney General Letitia James ranked among worst in US for prosecuting Medicaid fraud: analysis
New York Attorney General Letitia James’ office ranks among the worst in the country for criminally prosecuting Medicaid fraud, according to a new analysis.The Empire Center for Public Policy calculated, using federal data, that during James’ term as AG from 2019 to 2025, the state ranked 49th for criminal investigations per billion of Medicaid dollars spent.New York ranked 51st out of all states and Washington DC for indictments per billion, and 51st for convictions, said Empire Center fellow Bill Hammond.And billions of dollars could be at stake.The Empire State spends $124 billion on Medicaid, the highest per resident among 50 states in fiscal year 2024 and 77% above the national average, according to the think tank.The federal government kicks in more than half of the bill for massive Medicaid costs and cracking down on fraud, waste and abuse is a priority to help rein in spending.The independent analysis comes after the Trump administration said it would freeze $60 million in federal funding for New York’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, which the AG oversees, claiming weak enforcement against fraud.The administration, via the US Department of Health and Human Services Inspector General Thomas March Bell, accused the unit of not securing enough criminal indictments and convictions and said its federal funding would be suspended through at least Sept.30.“As a result of this leadership failure and poor decision making—and with billions of dollars at stake and millions of people expecting safe care for their families—the New York MFCU has been ineffective in fighting criminal cases involving Medicaid fraud or abuse or neglect of Medicaid patients,” Bell wrote in a June 30 letter to James.James’ office disputed the assertion of lax enforcement, but Hammond concluded the feds were mostly correct.“A review of the available statistics, however, suggests that Bell’s criticism is well founded,” Hammond said.“The performance of James’ MFCU – whe...