• What Happened: CMS Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz sent Gov. Kathy Hochul a letter Tuesday demanding answers to 50 pointed questions about New York's $124 billion Medicaid program, flagging alarming spending levels and serious concerns about fraud oversight, giving the state 30 days to comply or face deferred payments.
  • Why It Matters: New York spends $12,528 per Medicaid beneficiary, 36% above the national average, while per-resident Medicaid spending runs nearly 80% higher than the rest of the country, and roughly half of all New York Medicaid spending, $72.7 billion between 2018 and 2024, went entirely to personal care and home aide services.
  • Bottom Line: One in three New Yorkers is now on Medicaid, and Dr. Oz isn't buying the explanation.

New York's Medicaid program is a $124 billion monster. Dr. Oz just put it on the operating table.

CMS Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz sent Gov. Kathy Hochul a formal letter Tuesday demanding answers to 50 pointed questions about waste, fraud, and abuse inside New York's $124 billion Medicaid program. The state has 30 days to respond or risk deferred payments, making this far more than a strongly worded letter.

"I am formally requesting detailed information regarding program integrity and provider screening and enrollment oversight within New York's Medicaid program," Oz wrote. "This request is necessary to ensure public confidence and protect beneficiaries in your state's Medicaid program."

The numbers Oz flagged are staggering. New York spends $12,528 per Medicaid beneficiary, 36% above the national average. Per resident, New York's Medicaid spending runs nearly 80% higher than anywhere else in the country. And it's not hard to see why: roughly $72.7 billion of New York's Medicaid spending between 2018 and 2024 went entirely to personal care and home aide services, accounting for nearly half of all Medicaid dollars spent in the state over that period.

Oz hasn't been subtle about his suspicions. In a February appearance on 77 WABC, he called New York's Medicaid system a "monster" and said he believed significant portions of the state's personal care billings involve services that simply aren't legitimate. "In the beautiful city of New York and surrounding New York state, we know that there are a lot of people who are providing services that we don't think are legitimate," he said.

This probe hits Albany at the worst possible moment. The DOJ is already preparing to sue Hochul's administration over the rigged $11 billion CDPAP homecare overhaul. A $68 million adult daycare fraud bust is fresh in the headlines. And now the federal government's top Medicaid watchdog is demanding a full accounting of how New York became the single biggest Medicaid spender in the nation.

Hochul's office trotted out its standard defense, claiming the governor has been "leading efforts to root out waste, fraud and abuse" long before Trump took office. That same office still hasn't produced documentation to back up its claimed $1 billion in CDPAP savings.

One in three New Yorkers is on Medicaid. The tab is $124 billion a year. The feds want to know where every dollar went.

Hochul has 30 days to explain herself.