Despite mounting concerns about fraud and abuse within Medicaid, including instances like a $68 million kickback and bribery scheme, and $13 million in fines levied against transportation companies that stole millions from the system, both New York State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli and the Hochul administration, through the Office of Medicaid Inspector General, have failed to conduct a comprehensive audit of the Medicaid program.

Albany’s current watchdog, Comptroller Tom DiNapoli, has been ignoring Medicaid’s growing issues, while billions of taxpayer dollars are siphoned off through fraud, overlapping programs and improper payments. DiNapoli has had 19 years to fix this, and it’s only gotten worse.

When elected Comptroller, I will immediately order a full forensic audit of the entire Medicaid program to identify exactly where money is going, which services are being billed, and whether taxpayers are getting what they pay for.

The comptroller has the authority to prevent the disbursement of improper payments through the pre-audit process. As State Comptroller, I will not wait to investigate fraud after it happens. Instead, I’ll use new technology to expose waste and provide transparency to the public.

Currently, the comptroller’s Open Book New York website, which provides searchable access to state financial records, does not include Medicaid—even though Medicaid is the single largest component of the state budget. I will expand the website to include the Medicaid program.

New Yorkers have a right to know where every Medicaid dollar goes. A public tracking platform is a basic accountability tool. If other states can do it, New York should too. No more hiding behind privacy excuses and complicated legal hoops.

Fighting fraud, waste and abuse should be a bipartisan issue. Oversight of government spending should not be political because taxpayers deserve accountability from their elected officials.

To learn more about Hernandez’s plan to modernize the Office of State Comptroller and protect taxpayers, visit www.hernandezforny.com.

Joseph Hernandez
Candidate for New York State Comptroller
New York, NY