Dr. Oz is questioning whether taxpayers are footing Medicaid bills for services that two Queens senior care centers actually provided, according to a Fox News Digital report detailing his visits to the facilities Tuesday.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services administrator challenged employees at Kent Senior Care and Evergreen Adult Day Care in Flushing over attendance figures, transportation charges and records he said did not square with the billing.
Fox News Digital accompanied Oz and senior federal health officials as they delivered warning letters to the centers. The visits were part of a citywide effort in which CMS officials visited more than 80 providers and delivered letters flagging billing concerns.
“The whole experience was suspicious,” Oz told Fox News Digital afterward.
Employees at both locations disputed his questions about attendance. Kent’s director maintained that the center billed only for people who showed up, while an Evergreen manager said the number of seniors visible during the visit did not account for everyone participating.
Among the records drawing scrutiny were Evergreen’s attendance books.
Fox News Digital reported seeing sign-in sheets with apparent name entries for Oct. 22 and Oct. 23, dates that had not yet occurred. Oz said the books contained “fraud,” but the outlet could not immediately establish whether the entries were completed attendance records or advance schedules.
An Evergreen floor manager told Oz that approximately 200 seniors attended on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, with about 150 on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Whether those figures covered an entire day or the number present at one time was unclear.
“So I look at maybe 25 people in the whole space now,” Oz said.
The manager disputed that estimate, explaining that some seniors were taking classes while others had left for shopping, pharmacy visits or medical appointments.
“The numbers don’t seem to add up,” Oz responded.
Oz also asked about participants who used wheelchairs. The manager initially indicated there were none, then acknowledged that a small number used them.
“But you said there weren’t any, were you?” Oz asked.
He returned to the attendance issue while speaking with the other federal officials.
“I’m struck by how few people are here as well,” Oz said. “This makes me wonder how they sustain these billing levels.”
Wheelchair transportation charges also came under scrutiny at Kent, the first facility Oz visited that morning.
“I don’t see any wheelchairs here,” Oz told its director.
Fox News Digital reported seeing seniors with walking aids but no one using a wheelchair during the visit. Another official pointed to charges for specialized wheelchair transportation, questioning whether the services had been delivered and which company had billed for them.
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Kent’s director said some participants had difficulty getting around, including people recovering from strokes, and that the center had wheelchairs available. He suggested workers might have copied information from earlier files without updating billing codes related to wheelchair use.
“Probably he just copy and pasted,” the director said.
Oz arrived at Kent around 8:30 a.m. and handed its director a federal letter notifying the business that officials were examining its billing practices, Fox News Digital reported.
“The bills are much higher than they should be,” Oz told him. “The billing is for more people. It doesn’t look very crowded here.”
The director said more seniors would arrive as the morning progressed. Fox News Digital reported that a posted occupancy sign listed a maximum of 70 people.
“The bills we’re getting are as though it’s completely full all the time,” Oz said.
The director insisted that participants signed attendance sheets and that the center charged only for those who attended.
“You’re getting this letter from the U.S. Government because we don’t believe you,” Oz replied.
Oz also challenged what he described as records reflecting five-day-a-week attendance when the director said many seniors came two or three days. The director maintained that billing matched attendance and said some participants came more frequently.
The sign-in process became another point of contention.
Fox News Digital reported seeing several seniors enter Kent without immediately signing attendance sheets. Staff told seniors arriving later to sign in.
“People were just walking in there without signing anything,” Oz said. “And then after I showed up and he saw what we were doing with my team, he started collecting these documents to be signed.”
Oz questioned whether those procedures produced an accurate record of the services Medicaid was being charged to cover.
He also challenged the use of taxpayer money for recreational activities after approaching mahjong tables inside Kent.
“Should the American taxpayers be paying so folks can play mahjong?” Oz asked the director.
The director said the game helped seniors socialize, exercise their fingers and improve their memory, including participants with cognitive difficulties.
“It’s free for them, not free for the taxpayers,” Oz responded. “Is that what our federal tax dollars for Medicaid is supposed to go to? Or is it life-saving heart surgery? Or, you know, new therapies for cancer?”
Social adult day care programs can provide activities, supervision, meals and social support to eligible seniors. Medicaid payment depends on the applicable rules, participants’ eligibility and documentation of the services delivered.
The broader crackdown involved the FBI, the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General, the NYPD and other agencies, according to Fox News Digital.
Oz said authorities were making arrests, executing search warrants and working to block certain operators from billing Medicaid. The outlet did not independently witness those enforcement actions at either Queens facility.
In his interview, Oz alleged that the concerns extended beyond individual providers. He said federal authorities had identified substantial billing increases across the industry and claimed annual spending on the programs had approached $1 billion.
“We know from the billing here that there’s no way this business is running in the way that they claim to be running without something being wrong,” Oz told Fox News Digital.
“Is it an innocent mistake? A hundred times in a row, I don’t think so.”
Oz alleged that organized criminal networks were paying seniors to participate while charging the government for services that were never provided.
He claimed individuals connected to the “Chinese mafia” were offering some seniors between $1,000 and $1,200 to take part in fraudulent billing arrangements. He did not identify a specific criminal organization or provide supporting evidence during the interview.
Oz also alleged that fraudulent Medicaid proceeds supported money laundering and human trafficking. Fox News Digital had not independently verified those alleged connections or established any such link to Kent or Evergreen.
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