New York, NY – The number of people caught as welfare and Medicaid cheats in New York City skyrocketed by 45 percent, potentially costing taxpayers millions in fraudulent claims.
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Individuals nailed for gaming the system surged to 28,335 in 2008 from 19,476 the year before, according to the city Human Resources Administration.
A new Medicaid-fraud unit alone nabbed 10,379 cheaters.
HRA’s staff of 177 fraud investigators discovered corruption by cross-checking information from welfare recipients against a database of banks and other computer systems.
Phone and mail tips accounted for 19 percent, or 5,380, of the confirmed fraud cases.
The number of rip-off cases has steadily risen, with 17,047 in 2006 and 13,889 in 2005. That has occurred even as the city’s welfare caseload has dropped to 343,144, nearly the lowest tally since 1963.
perhaps they’ve just gotten better at nabbing them (?)
It’s about time… Catch these cheats and NY and NYC will be in the black. Health insurance rates may go down. Taxes may be back in check.
I don’t exactly understand the story with the lady in the photo.
You are legally allowed to own the house you live in, or maybe she had it free and clear with no mortgage payments.. that would be a different story.
Makes sense. Govt. keeps raising taxes. How do they expect some people to live without cheating?
By law your allowed to own a home and own a car in order to recieve medicaid.
The income limit depends on size of family and how much one earns. What I don’t understand is the chutzpah that some people do in our communities.
I’m a nurse and there are husbands and wife that walk into my office with two different last names, and both parents have food stamps and medicaid. This is stealing and cheating at it’s best. It’s not everyone that is doing this but I have at least 25 parents out of 900 that I know of doing this and it’s to many and it’s a chilul hashem.
People will be caught sooner or later and the news will just be another black mark on all of us.
Why can’t anyone do anything straight anymore?