US Health Administrator Alleges Russian-Armenian Mafia Presence in California: Governor Newsom Defends Immigrants
Dr. Oz claimed that organized crime was involved in large-scale healthcare fraud in Los Angeles.
Dr. Mehmet Oz, the 17th Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) at the US Department of Health and Human Services, alleged widespread abuse of the healthcare system of Los Angeles County.
According to Dr. Oz’s claims, the region has become “the epicenter of healthcare fraud in America” – a place where criminal schemes have become so entrenched that fraud has effectively become the norm. Dr. Oz said that the Donald Trump administration will not tolerate harm to patients or the theft of taxpayer funds.
How many Russians, Ukrainians and Belarusians live in California?
The CMS head claimed that an inspection of one area in Los Angeles discovered 42 hospice centers within just four blocks of one another. Dr. Oz asserted that many of these centers were not providing real medical services.
Dr. Oz claimed that a significant portion of the Los Angeles Country healthcare fraud was carried out by the Russian-Armenian mafia, which Dr. Oz claimed systematically recruited doctors to issue false prescriptions. In all, according to Dr. Oz, hundreds of doctors were involved. Meanwhile, up to 100,000 patients were either deceived or paid to provide their benefit numbers.
According to Dr. Oz’s allegations, many of the so-called hospice centers existed only on paper. They did not provide any services, but rather merely registered addresses and claimed that patients were receiving home care. These centers then collected payments they did not earn.
CMS estimates that the total amount of fraud in hospice and home care in Los Angeles could reach $3.5 billion. Federal authorities, including the US Attorney’s Office and the FBI, are already investigating. CMS said that California’s home and community-based care programs total roughly $30 billion, and a significant portion of these funds could be misused.
The Trump administration is also investigating alleged multimillion-dollar corruption schemes in Minnesota involving individuals of Somali descent.
Governor Newsom’s Office Files Complaint With HHS
The office of California Governor Gavin Newsom submitted an official complaint to the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) in response to statements made by CMS Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz regarding alleged healthcare fraud in Los Angeles.
In the letter, addressed to the HHS Office for Civil Rights, the governor’s office noted that on January 27, Dr. Oz posted a video on CMS’s official social media account containing, according to California authorities, unfounded racially charged allegations against the Armenian community in Los Angeles.
The letter complains that Dr. Oz used the mere presence of “Russian-Armenian” signs and lettering in the region to argue that the Russian-Armenian mafia was present in the region. This claim, according to the letter, was both baseless and racially charged.
According to the governor’s office, Dr. Oz’s comments could foment further discrimination and may discourage members of the affected communities from participating in Medicare and Medicaid programs. The letter also noted that Dr. Oz’s statements betrayed his bias against the Russian and Armenian community – a bias which could affect the objectivity of the investigations into the alleged fraud. It was particularly concerning, the letter noted, that the biased and discriminatory statements were made by the top-decision maker at CMS.
Dr. Oz’s statements have already caused real-world consequences, the governor’s office letter noted. A popular bakery which was mentioned in Dr. Oz’s video reported a 30 percent drop in sales following the CMS administrator’s statements.
In response, Governor Newsom’s administration filed a formal complaint alleging potential violations of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color of skin or national origin in programs and activities which receive federal funding. The letter stresses that in such programs, no individual in the United States may be excluded from participation, denied benefits or subjected to discrimination under such funding.
The governor’s office called on HHS to investigate and, if violations are confirmed, take corrective actions.
Earlier, Dr. Oz had reported large-scale fraud in hospice and home healthcare in Los Angeles, estimating potential losses in the billions of dollars and citing the involvement of organized crime groups. These statements sparked public controversy and criticism from local authorities and community organizations.
According to the latest research by Slavic Sacramento, California is home to at least 249,132 Armenians and 364,909 residents identifying as Russian.
Ruslan Gurzhiy, SlavicSac.com
Translation: Isabella Ainsworth
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