California has finally begun to crack down on fraudulent practices of clinics participating in the “drug medi-cal” program only because CNN was beating down their doors for months about getting an interview.
Commentary
We’re going to provide a link to the final story in this three part series and we would like you to observe, in particular, the shocking behavior of the Secretary in charge of the California Health and Human Services Agency as she tries to avoid CNN journalists, going so far as asking security to call the police. From a media standpoint, she committed political suicide and can only be seen as a liability to the Brown administration.
If Secretary Diana Dooley wasn’t asleep at the wheel for the past three years since her appointment, she wouldn’t be so embarrassed being caught on camera. CNN and the Center for Investigative Reporting tried to obtain an interview with the agencies leadership for nearly two months. For all of that time, the agency and its leadership did everything they could to avoid tough questions and avoid being interviewed. When CNN and CIR announced that the story would be broadcasted in the next couple of weeks and that HHSA would be caught in the lurch of appearing to not do anything and having no interest in doing anything about the fraud discovered in a yearlong investigation, only then did the agency temporarily suspend sixteen suspected fraudulent providers and refer them to Kamala Harris’s office for investigation and possible prosecution.
Many that participate in this site cannot comment on pending or impending litigation so we don’t expect a whole lot of comments to this post but what is striking about this whole incident is all that it took to get the attention of the people passing out the money. Much like the issues with the Judicial Council and the AOC, no one seems to care that hundreds of millions of tax dollars were mis-spent and that John Q. Taxpayer is picking up the tab for this incompetence and that others are paying the price for this incompetence while everyone at the top enjoys a 1%er salary and benefits package.
Unanswered questions of how these false reports of addiction played out in the lives of, for example, children in group homes that were forced into counseling by their group home managers and the known payoffs people get to attend calls into question the accuracy of juvenile reports that might make their way to the courts. After all, how is a judge supposed to know if one of these clinics rendered a false diagnosis for profits when the secretary of health and human services gives these fraudsters her personal blessing by letting them stay providers? How many lives have been ruined by a false diagnosis made solely to bilk the state?
Secretary Diana Dooley and department of healthcare services director Toby Douglas should submit their resignations forthwith but this is not the California way. They will readily declare that they’ve done their job in temporarily suspending the fraudsters and turning the matter over to DOJ \ Harris. What will Harris do about it? Expect inconclusive investigations and a restoration of most clinics under a new “a million strikes and you’re out” policy. Or maybe we’ll be able to witness these nonprofits spread around some political $love$ since they have so much extra and get the California political machine sticking up for the little guy against an evil press out to get them.
CNN’s final shocking segment on Drug Medi-cal – California Cracks Down after CNN\CIR investigation.
It’s totally pathetic that it takes this much attention to get peoples’ attention.
Related articles
- Teens used as fake rehab patients? (abc15.com)
- California cracks down on rehab clinics after CNN/CIR investigation (cnn.com)
- Rehab clinics under scrutiny (cnn.com)
- Fraud flourishes in drug rehab clinics (utsandiego.com)
- AC360 Video: CNN and CIR investigation uncovers major fraud in largest Medicaid program (cnnpressroom.blogs.cnn.com)
- Teens used as rehab pawns (cnn.com)
- Teens claim they were used as fake rehab clients (myfox8.com)
- Lax oversight leaves California drug rehab funds vulnerable to fraud (capoliticalnews.com)
Judicial Council Watcher 
carlosmartinezcsr
August 1, 2013
Too bad they can’t actually crack down on the AOC.
Carlos Martinez
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anonymous
August 1, 2013
This is the final segment in this series. CNN and CIR will be following up to see how the now alleged 36 suspended providers were dealt with. You might note however that the government site has only indicated 16 were referred for prosecution so they may be feeding CNN\CIR a last-minute line of B.S. to cover for their incompetence.
R. Campomadera
August 2, 2013
Here’s an interesting excerpt, with my comments, from the lead editorial in today’s (8/2/13) Sacramento Bee:
“Reporters talked to whistle-blowers who reported abuses but were ignored, sometimes for years. Even when fraud was confirmed, government funds continued to flow. In some cases, payouts were increased”. Sound familiar?
“It’s not enough to stop payments to problem clinics, as the state belatedly appears to be doing now. Who in state government or at the county level was responsible for years of lax oversight?” Sound familiar?
“They, too, need to be held accountable. That’s why the call by Sen. Ted Lieu, D-Torrence, for an independent probe by the state auditor is warranted.” Sound familiar?
“Of approximately $500 million spent over six years for alcohol and drug treatment programs in California, reporters estimate that at least half was misspent.” Pikers. The JC/AOC wasted the entire $500 million THEY SPENT ON CCMS.
“It’s not just taxpayers who are hurt by such rampant corruption. The extraordinary levels of waste, fraud and abuse uncovered here taint honest operators and all of government.”
Right on, Sen. Lieu. If you’re really serious about rooting out waste, fraud, and abuse in government, turn your attention to the JC/AOC, which didn’t just waste half of the $500 million they spent on CCMS, they wasted the entire amount and so far, NO ONE HAS BEEN HELD ACCOUNTABLE.
anonymous
August 3, 2013
It all sounds all too familiar. This is the result of self-policing and self-commissioned studies.. Employees are in meetings talking about the fraud or exorbitant prices that no one does anything about. You’re only deemed a whistle-blower when you go public or try to escalate the issue to another branch of government. Short of that you can sit in meetings discussing fraud and exorbitant pricing to your hearts content and know that everyone around the table is talking about it too.
The retiree that came forward in this report was a wealth of information about how this process happens in government in general. You talk about it but nobody ever does anything about it because their overall budget is often pegged to the amount of money they hand out.
Furthermore, current law often offers no incentive for self-policing agencies and branches to actually recover the wasted funds. That responsibility is left up to the attorney generals office to recover the funds and return those funds to the general fund, not to the agency or branch of government responsible for recovering or misspending them.
Toby Douglas’s one talking point is tragic. His boss that was too cowardly to stand up to scrutiny in front of a camera is shameful.
Judicial Council Watcher
August 3, 2013
Executive Director Toby Douglas: “I’m focusing on the future, not the past”. You need to watch this spectacular media fail.
Nobody is responsible for lax oversight. just like at the Judicial Council and the AOC.
http://www.cnn.com/2013/08/02/health/rehab-racket-siu-cir-part-four/index.html?hpt=hp_t3