A Navajo state senator in Arizona says she's hoping for final approval of her bill to tighten regulations for rehab facilities amid widespread fraud that has bilked hundreds of millions in Medicaid dollars.
FILE - Arizona State Sen. Theresa Hatathlie talks during a news conference on Friday, May 19, 2023. Hatathlie said Friday, march 15, 2024, that she's hoping for final approval of her bill to tighten regulations for rehab facilities amid widespread fraud that has bilked hundreds of millions in Arizona Medicaid dollars. Hundreds of Native Americans seeking help for addictions have also been scammed.
The legislative effort comes the same week that relatives of two Native American men who died while in Phoenix rehab programs sued Arizona’s Medicaid program and Department of Health Services, alleging insufficient oversight. The Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System has instituted tighter controls, including a six-month moratorium for enrolling new behavioral health clinics for Medicaid billing. The scams’ far-reaching consequences became better known through warnings sounded by state and tribal governments outside Arizona.
Crystalyne Curley, speaker of the Navajo Nation Council, showed her support for the Hatathlie's bill the day the Senate approved it. During early Senate hearings, representatives of assisted living and nursing homes and other facilities that could be affected worried that the penalties may be too high for smaller operations.
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