After billions of taxpayer dollars were stolen through Medicaid fraud in Minnesota, attention has shifted to the state of New York, where spending for health programs is now set to reach over $115 billion in 2026. Data has revealed that New York blows through more cash on Medicaid than both Florida and Texas, despite those states having a significantly higher population. The problem, critics say, is that there is no oversight keeping track of exactly where all of the money is going.
Now calls are being made for a statewide audit, however, Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul has been resistant to such an idea. “This is not hard to figure out. When there’s this much money, it’s going into somebody’s pockets,” New York State Senate Minority Leader Rob Ortt, who has written a series of letters to Hochul, all remaining unanswered, demanding an audit, told the New York Post.
“There are people who do not want that information out there, or the audit done. It will lead to people losing money, right? The gravy train might end. It might even lead to prosecutions,” he continued, going on to add, “The idea that New York State does not [audit] the single largest program in the budget is a real slap in the face.”
According to the New York Post, which did a little digging into the matter, the state lost $1.2 billion in taxpayer dollars to scammers and middlemen through the Consumer Directed Personal Assistance Program (CDPAP). The outlet also uncovered the state spends up to $400 million every year on Social Adult Day Care centers, which duplicate the offerings of senior centers.
The report goes on to say that New York differs from Minnesota in one significant way. Minnesota publishes a database of every Medicaid check that it writes, while New York keeps that information hidden. The state of Minnesota adopted the database after it received a D+ grade for government accountability and transparency from the Center for Public Integrity in 2012.
Ever since 2015, the state-run TransparencyMN has put out details of every dollar in the Medicaid program going to specific vendors. This means lawmakers and journalists, along with regular members of the public, can see how much of their tax money is going to anyone who is receiving Medicaid reimbursements, which includes doctors, hospitals, and transportation services.
This database is how local activists, reporters, and social media influencers have been able to uncover widespread fraud in Minneapolis’s Somali community. Unfortunately, there is no such tool in New York where these same individuals can take a look at where the $115 billion in taxpayer dollars being spent on Medicaid this year in the state is going.
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“What’s happening with Medicaid fraud in New York State makes what happened in Minnesota look like child’s play,” state Sen. George Borrello, who is one of the latest voices to call for an audit, told The Post. “The fraud in Medicaid in New York State is so massive, it dwarfs anything we’re seeing anywhere else in the country,” he added.
Prosecutions for Medicaid fraud are rare in New York, but when they do come about, they are often large, such as the case of Zakia Khan. Khan was convicted in 2025 of defrauding the Medicaid program of $68 million through payment kickbacks and bribes. In June 2025, a total of 25 transportation companies were slapped with a fine of $13 million over schemes to steal millions from the program.
“It comes down to the governor. If this is going to be initiated, that’s where it has to come from. And we sent our letter to her and we did not get a response,” Ortt said. “There’s a lot of people over the years who don’t want these resources available because, let’s be honest, there’s people who are knowingly abusing this system and are benefiting from it. Period. End of story,” he continued.
While there is no database or program in place like the one in Minnesota to track federal tax dollars, New York does have one that keeps an eye on state payments, called Open Book New York. However, payments from Medicaid are absent from the information. Medicaid spending in New York has increased significantly since the mid-2010s, going from $50 billion a year to a staggering $96 billion in 2025.
The state of New York spends 77% more than the national average, with spending for patients being double that of the second-most state: Kentucky. Texas and Florida only spent $51 billion and $35 billion respectively on Medicaid. And both of these states have laws in place that give the public access to numbers related to Medicaid spending.
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