Headline news: Dr. Oz has discovered there may be fraud going on in Florida -- imagine that!

News and commentary from Florida for all Americans

Dr. Oz has discovered that Florida may be a haven for fraudsters.

To be clear, he’s talking about health care fraud, not his boss, Donald Trump.

Mehmet Oz is a former daytime talk show host who was appointed by Trump to lead the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. He is known for promoting alternative health ideas, such as the notion that placing a bar of lavender soap under your bedsheets can cure restless leg syndrome.

Oz announced this week that it has come to his attention that Florida could be a hotspot for Medicaid fraud.

This is part of an initiative by the Trump Administration to crack down on government fraud (or at least fraud that does not originate at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue), particularly in blue states such as Minnesota, where it is alleged that millions of federal and state Medicaid funds were misspent.

Oz directing his sights on the Sunshine State marks the first time the White House has targeted a red state. Which is a bit bemusing since we are FAMOUS for Medicaid and Medicare fraud. We practically invented it here.

I’ll get to that in a moment, but first, a footnote to explain the difference between Medicare and Medicaid, which can be a little confusing because they sound so similar.

Medicare is a federal program primarily for people 65 and older or with disabilities, regardless of income, while Medicaid is a joint federal-state program for people with limited income and resources. Medicare is standard nationwide, whereas Medicaid eligibility and benefits vary by state.

Florida is one of the few states that failed to expand Medicaid enrollment under the Affordable Care Act and has one of the nation’s highest “disenrollment rates”—meaning more poor people are kicked out of the program in Florida than most other states. For instance, more than 1.3 million people, including more than 400,000 children, lost their Medicaid coverage by early 2025, according to various sources.

Since we’re dealing with definitions, let’s also talk about fraud. Fraud is “wrongful or criminal deception intended to result in financial or personal gain.”

An example would be how Trump was found liable in 2024 for fraud in a civil case for inflating his net worth to obtain favorable loan and insurance terms. He was also convicted of 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in a separate criminal trial.

So, this White House knows fraud when it sees it, which leads us back to Oz and his declaration of Florida (now Trump’s home) as a hotspot for health care fraud.

This isn’t exactly news, as these issues have been in the headlines for years. Two examples:

The Centene Corporation recently—without admitting guilt—paid out over a billion dollars in multiple states, including Florida, to settle accusations it overcharged for Medicaid pharmacy bills

Here in Florida, that settlement totaled $67 million, $10 million of which went directly to Gov. Ron DeSantis’ wife’s charity, Hope Florida, and, in turn, was funneled to TV ads to fight citizen ballot initiatives to legalize marijuana and to restore women’s reproductive rights.

Those ballot measures received a majority of votes in the 2024 election but fell just short of the 60 percent needed to pass, a gap narrow enough that critics question whether those misspent ad dollars from the Medicaid settlement were responsible.

A grand jury has been investigating this in Tallahassee and has issued a report, but so far, it has not been released to the public.

U.S. Sen. Rick Scott of Naples also is no stranger to allegations of fraud. While he was never personally accused of a crime, he was the chief executive officer of Columbia/HCA Healthcare Corp. in the 1990s when the company pleaded guilty to 14 felonies regarding fraudulent Medicare billing and paid a historic (at the time) settlement of $1.7 billion.

So, yeah, we’re pretty familiar with health care fraud here in Florida.

So, what’s Oz up to? Here’s what he wrote on Twitter (currently known as X):

We’ve only just begun to scratch the surface of fraud in our health care system.

Next up: Governor Ron DeSantis and Florida. What I saw on the ground in Florida around durable medical equipment fraud was horrifying. The scale is out of control – and not just limited to these schemes. Cleaning this up will require a laser focus and real action from state leaders…

Florida has been a hotspot for health care fraud for years. Taxpayers and vulnerable patients deserve better—and it’s time for state leadership to step up and work with us to stop it.

Dr. Oz and Ron DeSantis, a powerhouse fraud-fighting dynamic duo. Gotta love it.

Now, does anyone know if putting a bar of lavender soap in my bed will really fix my restless leg syndrome? That would be news I could really use.

J.C. Bruce is the founder of Tropic Press, a Florida online news service dedicated to sharing news and commentary relevant to Florida readers, whether it originates in the Sunshine State or elsewhere. Bruce is an award-winning former newspaper editor, journalist and author living in Florida, his native state.

Onward thru the fog

It’s easy to feel overwhelmed if you are a rational person living in the Free State of Florida, but there are plenty of smart, reasonable people just like you here. The purpose of this newsletter and the Tropic Press website is to provide a source of news and commentary that shines a light through this irrational fog.

Thank you for your support as a subscriber. It is invaluable. This is especially so for those of you who have chosen to upgrade to paid subscriptions. Your contributions are making this possible.

J.C. Bruce

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