"Driving the news: Musk took to X on Friday to celebrate the release of Medicaid data on claims, medical procedures and payments from January 2018 through December 2024. "Medicaid data has been open sourced, so the level of fraud is easy to identify," Musk wrote. "DOGE is not a department, it's a state of mind." The Department of Health and Human Services collects Medicaid claims data from states that administer the program. Until now, much of the information has been fragmented and difficult to access."
"The release drew interest from some journalists. The other side: "A serious attempt to root out fraud in Medicaid would involve working with states rather than continuing the Trump administration's attack on Minnesota," said Joan Alker, executive director of the Center for Children and Families and a research professor at Georgetown University, " I expect more of the same between now and the election to divert voters' attention from historic cuts to Medicaid that were made in last year's budget bill.""
Musk and DOGE publicized the release of Medicaid claims data covering January 2018 through December 2024, describing the open-sourced dataset as revealing levels of fraud. DOGE has been conducting large-scale mining of Medicaid records since last year. The Department of Health and Human Services collects state Medicaid claims, and much of the information had been fragmented and difficult to access before the release. The dataset could reveal high-billing providers and unusual patterns, including alleged fraudulent autism diagnoses and treatments billed in Minnesota. The release drew journalistic interest and risks unvetted users claiming to find fraud. Critics say effective fraud reduction requires working with states rather than political attacks.
Read at Axios
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