An Arizona Republican lawmaker investigating Medicaid fraud that started under the Ducey administration won’t say whether she wants to interview the former governor or head of the state’s Medicaid agency.
State Sen. Carine Werner (R-Scottsdale) has been hosting legislative hearings since last August, looking into a Medicaid fraud scheme that started around 2019 and has since resulted in numerous prosecutions.
On Monday, Werner said there needs to be accountability for people in state government who allowed the fraud to occur in the first place through Arizona’s Medicaid agency, the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System (AHCCCS).
“No one is asking the question who at AHCCCS was not paying attention while billions of dollars flew out the door,” Werner said.
But when asked whether she wants to speak with former Republican Gov. Doug Ducey and his agency head, Jami Snyder, Werner said she hasn’t “gotten that far” and doesn’t want to sit and “point fingers” about who’s to blame.
On Monday, she and other Republicans accused Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs and Attorney General Kris Mayes of not doing enough on the issue and said Medicaid fraud is continuing, alleging that some bad actors have adjusted to using new methods.
Hobbs and Mayes came into office in 2023 and announced quickly that they were going to crack down on the Medicaid fraud scheme, which defrauded the state out of an estimated $2.8 billion at that time.
Under the scheme, bad actors operating fraudulent sober living homes charged Medicaid for addiction treatment services they never provided and held patients against their will. The fraud largely targeted Native Americans.
Part of Hobbs and Mayes’ crackdown included a partial moratorium on payments to providers, which Werner and other entities have criticized for being heavy-handed. In the process of trying to shut out bad actors, some legitimate providers say it’s also been harder for them to deal with AHCCCS, leaving some people in need of treatment without care.
Over the last few years, lawmakers have passed multiple bills targeted at mitigating Medicaid fraud. Werner is pushing a bill this year to require fingerprint clearance at behavioral health facilities.
On May 13, Werner sent out a press release announcing she would host a press conference on Monday. It said she would demand “Immediate Action on New Whistleblower Evidence of Medicaid Fraud and Patient Exploitation on Tribal Lands.”
Werner accused Mayes’ office of not doing enough to go after bad actors.
“Attorney General Kris Mayes failed to secure the aggressive prosecutions and asset seizures necessary to stop these repeat offenders from the beginning,” Werner wrote.
But before Werner’s event, Mayes held her own press conference to illustrate the ways in which the crackdown is working, though the problem is far from over.
At her event, Mayes went after Werner for misconstruing her office’s handling of a particular fraud case.
Mayes said Werner asked her staff to meet and provided them whistleblower information about potential fraud, which the AG’s office immediately brought to the FBI.
The FBI told Mayes’ office that they had an open investigation on that matter and would consider the information provided.
“She was grateful and thankful to my agents when they visited her but she turned this into a bullsh-t political attack last night,” Mayes said of Werner.
Mayes then handed out papers showing the emails between Werner and her office.
Mayes called Werner “a liar and a dumb one at that.”
At Werner’s event, Senate President Warren Petersen (R-Gilbert) took his own shots at Mayes, calling her “petulant and incompetent.” He placed the blame for Medicaid fraud squarely on her and Hobbs.
“One of our smartest and most honest members was insulted because she was doing the job that should have been getting done and stepping into the void,” Petersen said of Werner.
Petersen is running for attorney general and hopes to oust Mayes in November.
Hobbs held her own event on Monday detailing the ways in which her administration is going after Medicaid fraud. She also held an event last week announcing how AHCCCS is using AI to help detect fraud.
All this comes in the wake of the federal government threatening all 50 states that if they aren’t doing enough to prevent Medicaid fraud, they stand to lose out on federal funding.
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