During his State of the Union address, President Donald Trump declared a “War on Fraud.””There’s been no more stunning example than Minnesota,” Trump said. “The members of the Somali community have pillaged an estimated $19 billion from the American taxpayer. We have all the information. And in actuality, the number is much higher than that. And California, Massachusetts, Maine and many other states are even worse.”Trump said that Vice President JD Vance will be running the “War on Fraud.” “I can assure you it’s a peaceful resolution, a peaceful war,” said Rep. Billy Bob Faulkingham, R-Winter Harbor. “The one thing that’s important is that people are held accountable.” For months, we’ve reported on an organization called Gateway Community Services, based in Portland and Lewiston. Documents show that the nonprofit was overpaid by the state $1,068,598 from March 2021 through December 2022.Gateway received several violation notices. 8 Investigates asked the Maine Department of Health and Human Services how many of these violation notices the state sends to organizations that bill MaineCare annually. The department said it does not track this number. Under both state and federal law, suspension of payment happens when there are credible allegations of fraud. MaineCare payments have been suspended to Gateway Community Services. “There’s over 5,000 companies billing MaineCare, Medicaid in Maine. Obviously, there’s some fraud,” said Sen. Matt Harrington, R-York.We also reported on an Office of the Inspector General Report that revealed Maine made $45.6 million in improper fee-for-service Medicaid payments for rehabilitative and community support (RCS) services provided to children diagnosed with autism.”We got nothing to hide. We’re spending money thinking and for good reasons and good causes people’s needs,” Gov. Janet Mills said when asked about this report.Mills has stood firm in saying that this OIG report did not reveal fraud.Maine DHHS said in an email that the department is reviewing hundreds of claims to try to validate that OIG report.The Office of MaineCare Services said it will recover any confirmed overpayments and refund the federal share. Legislative Republicans have been vocal for months about the need to do something about these allegations.Harrington said he hopes the governor and attorney general work with the federal government on this issue.”I think we have a hard-headed president and a hard-headed governor, and they’re just both standing their ground in this battle that no one’s going to win,” he said.Government watchdog and Maine native Dylan Hedtler-Gaudette specializes in investigating abuses of power and corruption and he’s testified before Congress multiple times on this issue. “It would be that fraud is a systemic problem that requires systemic solutions,” he said. “Trying to play whack-a-mole with individual instances of scandalous fraud is not the way to go about handling the issue.”Hedtler-Gaudette added that narrowing in on specific communities, for example, the Somali community, doesn’t help the issue long-term.”You end up creating sort of partisan or political backlashes that make it harder to come together on a bipartisan basis to actually move the kinds of reforms and solutions that would solve the problem at its root,” he said.Harrington said he wants to see legal action.”No new companies should be able to allow to start billing Medicaid. And then they need to do a comprehensive audit of those existing companies, and those found to be fraudulently billing. They need to be held accountable. There need to be criminal ramifications with this,” he said.There has been some legal action connected to fraud in the state. A woman who ran a foster home in Clifton was found guilty on charges about a year and a half ago. The state recovered close to $48,000, and she was sentenced to 5 years in prison.A spokesperson for Gov. Mills wrote in a statement, “This so-called ‘War on Fraud’ is really a war on those who dare to stand up to Trump’s abuses of power.”
During his State of the Union address, President Donald Trump declared a “War on Fraud.”
“There’s been no more stunning example than Minnesota,” Trump said. “The members of the Somali community have pillaged an estimated $19 billion from the American taxpayer. We have all the information. And in actuality, the number is much higher than that. And California, Massachusetts, Maine and many other states are even worse.”
Trump said that Vice President JD Vance will be running the “War on Fraud.”
“I can assure you it’s a peaceful resolution, a peaceful war,” said Rep. Billy Bob Faulkingham, R-Winter Harbor. “The one thing that’s important is that people are held accountable.”
For months, we’ve reported on an organization called Gateway Community Services, based in Portland and Lewiston. Documents show that the nonprofit was overpaid by the state $1,068,598 from March 2021 through December 2022.
Gateway received several violation notices. 8 Investigates asked the Maine Department of Health and Human Services how many of these violation notices the state sends to organizations that bill MaineCare annually. The department said it does not track this number.
Under both state and federal law, suspension of payment happens when there are credible allegations of fraud. MaineCare payments have been suspended to Gateway Community Services.
“There’s over 5,000 companies billing MaineCare, Medicaid in Maine. Obviously, there’s some fraud,” said Sen. Matt Harrington, R-York.
We also reported on an Office of the Inspector General Report that revealed Maine made $45.6 million in improper fee-for-service Medicaid payments for rehabilitative and community support (RCS) services provided to children diagnosed with autism.
“We got nothing to hide. We’re spending money thinking and for good reasons and good causes people’s needs,” Gov. Janet Mills said when asked about this report.
Mills has stood firm in saying that this OIG report did not reveal fraud.
Maine DHHS said in an email that the department is reviewing hundreds of claims to try to validate that OIG report.
The Office of MaineCare Services said it will recover any confirmed overpayments and refund the federal share.
Legislative Republicans have been vocal for months about the need to do something about these allegations.
Harrington said he hopes the governor and attorney general work with the federal government on this issue.
“I think we have a hard-headed president and a hard-headed governor, and they’re just both standing their ground in this battle that no one’s going to win,” he said.
Government watchdog and Maine native Dylan Hedtler-Gaudette specializes in investigating abuses of power and corruption and he’s testified before Congress multiple times on this issue.
“It would be that fraud is a systemic problem that requires systemic solutions,” he said. “Trying to play whack-a-mole with individual instances of scandalous fraud is not the way to go about handling the issue.”
Hedtler-Gaudette added that narrowing in on specific communities, for example, the Somali community, doesn’t help the issue long-term.
“You end up creating sort of partisan or political backlashes that make it harder to come together on a bipartisan basis to actually move the kinds of reforms and solutions that would solve the problem at its root,” he said.
Harrington said he wants to see legal action.
“No new companies should be able to allow to start billing Medicaid. And then they need to do a comprehensive audit of those existing companies, and those found to be fraudulently billing. They need to be held accountable. There need to be criminal ramifications with this,” he said.
There has been some legal action connected to fraud in the state. A woman who ran a foster home in Clifton was found guilty on charges about a year and a half ago. The state recovered close to $48,000, and she was sentenced to 5 years in prison.
A spokesperson for Gov. Mills wrote in a statement, “This so-called ‘War on Fraud’ is really a war on those who dare to stand up to Trump’s abuses of power.”