Republicans Are Keeping Many Low Income Americans From Getting Medicaid While Russian Diplomats are Cheating the System

How Does Something Like This Even Happen?

This Forum has been skeptical of major Medicaid fraud, but it turns out in at least one area there is a pretty good chance that Medicaid fraud has taken place on a pretty large scale.

Of the 63 births to Russian diplomats and their spouses in New York City between 2004 and 2013, 58 of those families, or 92 percent, were paid for by Medicaid benefits, the complaint says.

The complaint cites an 18-month investigation of the defendants’ Medicaid applications that revealed “general patterns of misrepresentations, which allowed them to qualify for Medicaid.”

For example, they frequently underreported their household income at an amount below the applicable Medicaid eligibility level in order to receive the benefits, the complaint charges.

Ok, maybe Russia does not pay or support its diplomats and they are really poor.  Or maybe not.

At the same time, they were spending tens of thousands of dollars on luxury goods and vacations, including the purchase of jewelry, watches, clothes and shoes at Jimmy Choo, Tiffany & Company and Bloomingdale’s, according to the complaint.

Of course, no Russian diplomat will actually have to go to court, as they have diplomatic immunity. 

But the good new, maybe there is a workaround for the millions of low income families who have been denied the Medicaid benefits made available to them in the new health care reform act.  They could be designated as diplomats by the U. S. government and then apply for Medicaid, misrepresenting their income and assets if necessary.   After all, if it is good enough for Russians it is certainly good enough for Americans.