Tag: fraud

The Fraud That Won’t Die: Obamacare’s Endless Deceptions

While the government shutdown continues and health-care reform remains gridlocked, Obamacare (the Affordable Care Act) burdens taxpayers with out-of-control costs. For more than a decade, Obamacare has been riddled with systemic fraud that has been denied by Democratic Party bureaucrats, ignored by much of the media, and paid for by weary taxpayers.

Built on lies including “if you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor,” Catholics continue to bitterly recall the duplicitous role that Sr. Carol Keehan, CEO of the Catholic Healthcare Association, played in passing Obamacare—despite the pushback by the Catholic bishops because of its inclusion of abortion funding and the contraception mandate. Sr. Keehan’s mendacious shepherding of the health-care program was rewarded with a silver signing pen from President Obama.

Intensifying the pressure today on an already overburdened health-care system, the influx of several million undocumented immigrants has pushed government-funded health care to a breaking point. According to an October 2024 CBO report to Rep. Jodey Arrington, federal and state governments spent $27 billion on Emergency Medicaid for noncitizens ineligible for full Medicaid coverage between 2017 and 2023. In 2023, the estimated cost of health care for undocumented immigrants in the United States was approximately $3.8 billion, specifically for Emergency Medicaid services.

Hospitals are bound by law to provide emergency services to undocumented patients under the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA), enacted in 1986. This is a federal law that requires hospitals to provide emergency medical care to all individuals, regardless of immigration status or ability to pay. Under EMTALA, any hospital that receives Medicare funding must conduct a medical screening exam for anyone who arrives at the emergency department and must provide stabilizing treatment for emergency medical conditions, including active labor. This mandate applies to undocumented immigrants as well as uninsured citizens and legal residents—and most of us strongly support the provision of this care to all on an emergency basis.

Unfortunately, such care is costly. According to the Trump administration, the estimated cost of emergency health care in 2024—including labor and delivery and postnatal care of the mothers and newborn babies—of undocumented immigrants in the United States rose 142 percent from the year before to an astonishing 9.1 billion dollars of taxpayer funds to pay for the emergency health care of those in the country illegally. Between 2020 to 2024, Medicaid taxpayer health-care dollars provided to illegal immigrants tripled.

Though critics argue that the Trump administration’s numbers are inflated, few challenge the fact that the nation’s hospitals are facing a fiscal crisis. In January 2024, Dr. Donna Lynne, CEO of Denver Health, publicly voiced concern over the financial strain caused by uncompensated care for undocumented individuals. Speaking at a finance and governance committee meeting, she stated, “Where do you think the migrants are getting care? They are getting care at Denver Health…It’s going to break Denver Health in a way that we didn’t even anticipate.” Her remarks highlighted the hospital system’s mounting fiscal challenges, noting that Denver Health treated over 8,000 undocumented immigrants in 2023, accounting for approximately 20,000 visits. Uncompensated care costs surged from $60 million in 2020 to $136 million in 2023.

Keep reading

Woman Exposes Massive Medicaid Fraud Scheme in Democrat-Run Minnesota

Medicaid’s collapse into waste and fraud hit home for Erna Hammerschmidt, exposing how career politicians built a system they can no longer control.

After overcoming years of addiction and rebuilding her life, Erna discovered that her name had been used to bill the government for services she never received. 

A company she had never even met was charging taxpayers nearly $200 several times a week, claiming to have provided “mental health services.” 

It is one of countless examples of how America’s welfare bureaucracy—especially under Democrat-led states such as Minnesota—has turned into a money pipeline for fraudsters.

The Minnesota Department of Human Services has been under fire for years for failing to detect and stop widespread Medicaid and housing assistance scams. 

Under failing Governor Tim Walz, the department has wasted millions through weak oversight, political favoritism, and bloated contracts handed to “community care” groups that exist only on paper. 

These programs were meant to help people like Erna, not exploit them. 

But instead of accountability, taxpayers received excuses, “internal reviews,” and bureaucrats promising to “expand data analytics.” That means more consultants, more red tape, and no real results.

Donald Trump warned about this years ago. He is the only national leader with the courage to say what others were afraid to admit—the welfare bureaucracy in America is corrupt from top to bottom. 

It is not a matter of a few “bad actors”; rather, it is a system designed to enrich politically connected insiders. 

While Democrats in Minnesota pretend that fraud is a “racial issue,” as the owner of the company claimed, Trump’s message is clear: every dollar stolen from Medicaid is a dollar stolen from honest taxpayers and families who truly need help.

The Republican establishment deserves no credit either. 

Keep reading

What to Know About Rising SNAP Fraud Claims

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) has raised significant fraud concerns, according to the Department of Agriculture, which administers the program. 

In a recent interview with Fox News, Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins called the food stamps program “broken and corrupt.”

This assessment came more than a month into the government shutdown that threatened to cut off SNAP benefits entirely. 

Rollins noted “massive fraud” uncovered by her agency and said she believes benefits should be reevaluated. 

Here’s what we know about fraud in the SNAP program. 

How SNAP Is Supposed to Work

Established in 1939, the SNAP program, also known as food stamps, is a federal nutrition assistance program that supplements the grocery budgets of low-income Americans.

It is administered at the federal level by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and at the local level by state agencies that interface with applicants.

SNAP is the largest federal nutrition program in the United States, which served around 41.7 million people and cost the government nearly $100 billion in 2024.

More than 261,000 stores participate in the program, which allows eligible individuals to purchase certain foods with an Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) card. 

The amount of funds added to the card depends on the household’s financial situation and the number of dependents.

According to the USDA, in 2024, the average benefit per person was approximately $187 per month, and just over 12 percent of Americans received SNAP benefits.

Unlike other nutrition programs, such as Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) or child-targeted nutrition programs, SNAP is not limited to a specific group. 

As of 2023, adults aged 18 to 59 accounted for nearly 42 percent of participants, while children aged 17 and under accounted for about 39 percent. Adults aged 60 and above accounted for 19.5 percent of the program. 

Keep reading

Report: Health Insurance Fraud Pervasive Among Trans Medical Industry

Trans activists have drilled vulnerable children and their parents into believing there’s nothing wrong with being trans.

Children, they claim, were incorrectly “assigned” a sex at birth, or were simply born with the “wrong body” or go through the “wrong puberty.”

And any distress over birth sex experienced by young people, they assert, is due to the lack of “affirmation” of their true gender identity by their families.

The problem with that approach, the trans medical industry found, is that families can’t afford the costly drugs and surgeries required to have their children live out their delusion as the opposite sex.

An easy fix would be to have trans drugs and surgeries for minors covered by health insurance. But, how to get health insurance to pay for these expenses when a “diagnostic code” is required – all the while gender ideologues claim there is nothing at all to diagnose?

According to Leor Sapir, prominent expert in the field of pediatric gender medicine, the answer to gender medicine’s puzzle was health insurance fraud – a “widespread” practice, he says, and now one the Trump administration is addressing.

“A common form of potential billing fraud involves use of the diagnosis ‘Endocrine Disorder Not Otherwise Specified’ (E34.9 in the International Classification of Diseases handbook), instead of ‘Gender Identity Disorders’ (F64), for patients who do not have or are not being treated for endocrine disorders,” Sapir wrote Thursday in a column at City Journal.

The Trump administration launched its attack on so-called “gender-affirming care” for children and teens on January 28 with the executive order “Protecting Children from Chemical and Surgical Mutilation.”

The order directed the U.S. Department of Justice to “prioritize investigations and take appropriate action to end deception of consumers, fraud, and violations of the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act by any entity that may be misleading the public about long-term side effects of chemical and surgical mutilation.”

The U.S. Department of Justice announced in July it had sent more than 20 subpoenas to gender medicine doctors and clinics that perform so-called “gender-affirming care” procedures on children. The investigations include issues of “healthcare fraud, false statements, and more,” the announcement said.

“Medical professionals and organizations that mutilated children in the service of a warped ideology will be held accountable by this Department of Justice,” Attorney General Pamela Bondi said in a statement.

Keep reading

Embattled Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook Breaks Her Silence, PUBLICLY Speaks About Her Mortgage Fraud

Embattled Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook on Monday publicly discussed her alleged mortgage fraud during remarks at the Brookings Institution.

This is the first time Lisa Cook has publicly spoken since President Trump fired her in August over allegations of mortgage fraud.

“I would like to briefly address an issue that may be on some of your minds,” Lisa Cook said during her remarks.

“As many of you know, I am involved in an ongoing legal case. There are a number of people in this room and in this building who have reached out and been supportive in many ways. I am beyond grateful for that support,” Cook said.

“Because the case is ongoing, it would be inappropriate for me to comment further today,” Cook added.

“I will continue to carry out my sworn duties on behalf of the American people,” Cook said.

Lisa Cook apparently owns three properties, and she allegedly committed mortgage fraud on all three properties.

According to housing regulator Bill Pulte’s first criminal referral, Lisa Cook committed mortgage fraud by lying on her mortgage application and falsifying bank statements when she designated her out-of-state Atlanta condo as her “primary residence”—just two weeks after taking a loan on her Michigan home, which she also claimed as her “primary residence.”

In August, Pulte sent a second criminal referral on Lisa Cook after she was allegedly caught lying about a third property.

Lisa Cook’s attorneys laughably claimed there would be an inflation crisis if Trump were allowed to fire Cook.

The US Supreme Court last month allowed embattled Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook to remain in her chair for now.

The high court will hear the case in January 2026 and allow Lisa Cook to keep her job in the meantime.

This also means Lisa Cook will be able to participate in December’s interest rate meeting.

Keep reading

Oregon Dem Melissa Fireside declared international fugitive after fleeing US with young son, could be headed to Austria: authorities

An Oregon Democratic politician is now an international fugitive from justice after fleeing the country with her young son when she was charged with bilking an elderly man out of $30,000, authorities said.

Democrat Melissa Fireside, an ex-Clackamas County commissioner, crossed the border into Mexico on a fake passport and booked a ticket for Austria after going on the run with her 9-year-old son, Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield said Friday.

“Our top concern right now is the safety and well-being of this child,” Rayfield said.

“We are working closely with law enforcement partners here and at the federal level to locate Ms. Fireside and ensure she is held accountable under Oregon law.”

Fireside was free on conditional release while facing charges that she stole from her mom’s 83-year-old boyfriend when she disappeared, The Oregonian reported.

“No one should be able to evade justice by crossing a border,” he added.

Fireside was charged in March with aggravated theft, forgery and other crimes for allegedly ripping off retired Safeway employee Arthur Petrone, her mom’s beau, by applying for a loan using his name.

Petrone, who died in August, lived on his pension and Social Security payments.

Fireside pleaded not guilty at her arraignment and was allowed to remain free on the condition that she not leave the state and show up for court hearings.

However, the state justice department on Friday filed a motion to revoke Fireside’s bail after investigators determined that she wasn’t living at her Lexington, Oregon, home — a violation of the terms of her release, the attorney general said.

Keep reading

‘New Sheriff in Town’: USDA Secretary Rollins To Reform SNAP Program

U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said that her agency has found massive fraud in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. It must be reformed, she added. 

When President Donald Trump’s administration asked states for food stamp data to eradicate fraud, waste, and abuse, many states sued, Townhall reported. 

Trump’s Executive Order 14243, “Stopping Waste, Fraud, and Abuse by Eliminating Information Silos,” aims to eradicate fraud, waste, and abuse in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, which feeds about 41 million people. 

A May 6 USDA directive requires states to provide the names and Social Security Numbers of food stamp beneficiaries. 

Also in May, the federal government shuttered a $66 million SNAP scheme in New York, in which a federal employee helped loot public benefits meant for hungry, vulnerable people. 

Rollins said that the program gives food benefits to illegal aliens, and others abuse the system meant to feed hungry, low-income families. 

“The Democrat Party has turned its back on working Americans and built its entire strategy around protecting illegal aliens. They know if the handouts stop, those illegals will go back home, and Democrats will lose 20+ seats after the next census,” Rollins said. “There’s a new sheriff in town. @POTUS will not tolerate waste, fraud, or abuse while hardworking Americans go hungry.”

Keep reading

‘Massive Fraud’ Uncovered in Food Stamp Program, Says Agriculture Secretary as Benefits Lapse

Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins on Sunday said that the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), or food stamps, is “a broken and corrupt program,” after benefits lapsed over the weekend due to the government shutdown.

In an interview with Fox News, Rollins said that while the Trump administration is moving to get the program restarted, 21 states refused to hand over data to the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) on whether illegal immigrants were receiving these benefits. Thousands of cases of illegal benefit use were also found, dozens were arrested for SNAP fraud, and thousands of dead people were still receiving benefits, she said.

“And guess what? In just the states that cooperated, we’ve already uncovered massive fraud,” she wrote in a post on X on Sunday.

After the second Trump administration took over, the Department of Agriculture (USDA) launched an investigation into SNAP fraud and abuse, said Rollins. She said her department asked all 50 states to send in data to the government for a review but 21 states did not.

Rollins suggested that if certain SNAP benefits are cut off, illegal immigrants will self-deport and added that it would change the outcome of the Census, causing House districts to be redrawn.

The Department of Agriculture planned to withhold payments to the food program starting Saturday until two federal judges ordered the administration to make the payments. It was unclear when the debit cards that beneficiaries use would be reloaded after the ruling.

Keep reading

Judge Delivers Blow to Letitia James in Mortgage Fraud Case

A federal judge on Friday denied Letitia James’ request to force federal prosecutors to turn over all of their communications with the media after it was reported that Lindsey Halligan was exchanging text messages with a Lawfare reporter.

A couple of weeks ago, US Attorney Lindsey Halligan exchanged Signal messages with Lawfare reporter Anna Bower.

It is not unusual for a prosecutor to communicate with the press.

Lindsey Halligan pushed back on Anna Bower’s reporting in her exchange.

“Anna, Lindsey Halligan here,” the first message to Anna Bower read. “You are reporting things that are simply not true. Thought you should have a heads up.”

Click here to see the screenshots of Halligan’s Signal exchange with Anna Bower.

Letitia James asked Judge Walker to force the DOJ to keep a log of all communications with the press.

The judge delivered a blow to Letitia James.

Judge Jamar Walker, a Biden appointee, said Letitia James did not demonstrate that it is necessary for the court to force the DOJ to track communications with the media.

The New York Post reported:

The judge overseeing Letitia James’ mortgage fraud case on Friday denied a motion from the New York attorney general attempting to force federal prosecutors to keep a log of all their communications with the media.

Defense attorney Abbe Lowell filed the motion last week, when James was arraigned on bank fraud and false statements charges, in response to a report that US Attorney Lindsey Halligan sent a flurry of encrypted Signal messages about the case to a reporter.

“[T]he defendant does not demonstrate that it is necessary for the Court to order the government to track communications with the media in any particular form,” US District Judge Jamar Walker wrote in his six-page order.

“The defendant’s request that the government be required to keep a communication log is DENIED,” the Biden-appointed judge ruled.

Walker noted that Halligan’s Signal chat with Lawfare senior editor Anna Bower earlier this month was “unusual” but he declined to offer an opinion “on whether they were improper in any sense, either legal or ethical.”

James was indicted by a federal grand jury in the Eastern District of Virginia last month.

Keep reading

Lawsuit Targeting Decades-Old Journal Article Triggers Renewed Scrutiny of Fraudulent Scientific Studies

A lawsuit demanding the retraction of a decades-old peer-reviewed article that claimed the antidepressant paroxetine, sold as Paxil, is safe and effective has put the issue of fraud in scientific and medical journals back in the spotlight, Paul D. Thacker wrote today in The Disinformation Chronicle.

The lawsuit, filed last month against the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry and its publisher, Elsevier, demands the retraction of a 2001 article in the Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry (JAACAP).

The article was based on Study 329, which the suit claims distorted data to claim Paxil was effective.

The complaint alleges that JAACAP editors and Elsevier refused to retract the article “in an apparent attempt to shield at least five of the … authors who are prominent members of the AACAP from possible ramifications of retraction.”

Study 329 was ghostwritten by Paxil manufacturer GSK — which Thacker discussed in a 2011 report he republished today.

Several of the journal article’s co-authors worked for GSK or went on to hold key positions within the AACAP.

According to Thacker, one of the co-authors, Stan Kutcher, is now a member of the Canadian Senate and co-founded “Science Up First,” an initiative that purportedly targets scientific “misinformation.”

During a roundtable discussion on the weaponization of science that the MAHA Institute organized last week, Thacker cited Study 329 as an example of fraud in scientific and medical publishing.

Brian Hooker, Ph.D., chief scientific officer for Children’s Health Defense, spoke at the roundtable. He said the discussion, in which “panelists described horror stories of their own scientific research under attack through targeted retractions of papers, denial of research funding, and disciplinary actions,” was “stunning.” He added:

“There is a huge cost in falling out of line with established institutions in science and medicine, whether corporate, university or private organizations. And these highly credentialed panelists paid a huge cost for ‘doing the right thing’ in exposing malfeasance and bad science.”

Research scientist and author James Lyons-Weiler, Ph.D., also participated in the roundtable. He said it “explored how science-like activities have been systematically re-engineered to serve political and corporate interests rather than truth.” He said:

“Study 329 exemplifies the collapse of accountability that follows when industry, regulators and journals form a closed feedback loop of self-validation. What’s marketed as ‘misinformation control’ today is often a continuation of that same pattern — protecting narratives, not people.”

‘One of the best documented case studies of corruption in modern biomedicine’

Study 329, completed in 1998 and funded by GSK, revealed serious safety risks — including suicidal behavior — associated with Paxil. Later studies confirmed those risks.

However, the study showed a few minor positive results that suggested possible efficacy, as it met 15% of the outcomes the researchers had initially said would prove Paxil’s effectiveness.

Keep reading