INTERNACIONAL
DeSantis fraud crackdown drives nearly $1B spending plunge after providers billed impossible hours
Florida’s sweeping Medicaid fraud crackdown has helped drive a nearly $1 billion reduction in projected annual spending on behavioral therapy services alone, according to state officials, after investigators uncovered suspicious billing practices.
Tallahassee’s internal crackdown — which included discoveries of providers billing Medicaid for more hours than there are in a day — comes amid heightened federal scrutiny of Medicaid fraud, including investigations and payment reviews involving Minnesota.
The DeSantis administration said its approach aims to stop suspicious Medicaid claims before taxpayer dollars are paid out rather than trying to recover improper payments afterward. The strategy mirrors a call from HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to move away from traditional «pay-and-chase» models.
«This year, we announced the most significant Medicaid integrity initiative in the history of our state, and today, I was proud to announce some of the results from these efforts,» Gov. Ron DeSantis said in a news release.
VANCE TURNS UP HEAT ON STATES WITH FEDERAL CASH THREAT OVER MEDICAID FRAUD CRACKDOWN
More than 220 Medicaid providers have been terminated for fraud, waste or abuse, while more than 260 have faced payment restrictions or suspensions. The state has also referred more than 150 suspected fraud cases to the attorney general’s office over the past year.
Annual Medicaid spending on Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA), a therapy commonly used for children with autism, had been projected to reach $3.86 billion but is now expected to total $2.88 billion in fiscal year 2026-27, according to the governor’s office. Officials attributed the nearly $980 million reduction to a combination of fraud enforcement, managed care and utilization management efforts.
Florida’s Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA) told Digital that its expanded monitoring uncovered providers billing Medicaid for services through every weekend and holiday for months, including instances in which providers billed for more than 24 hours of services in a single day.
«Protecting Medicaid means protecting the people it was created to serve,» AHCA Secretary Shevaun Harris said in a statement.
FRAUD EXPERT EXPOSES HOW HIDDEN NETWORKS DROVE MINNESOTA FRAUD, OTHER MAJOR SCAMS: ‘CRIMINAL ENTERPRISE’
«For children, pregnant women, the disabled, and our seniors, it means making sure they have access to high-quality care while ensuring taxpayer dollars are not lost to fraud or abuse. AHCA will continue taking decisive action to strengthen program integrity, hold bad actors accountable and safeguard these critical services for Floridians,» she said.
Harris’ agency provided additional details on its crackdown to Digital, including how its new fraud-protection mechanisms work.
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Through a pilot program with identity-verification firm SentiLink, Florida is screening for stolen or fake identities and hidden ownership structures among Medicaid providers. Separately, the state has imposed enrollment moratoriums on certain high-risk provider categories.
AHCA also told Digital that it has issued more than 1,000 adverse decisions involving Medicaid provider enrollment or re-enrollment since January 2026, part of its effort to prevent suspicious providers from entering or remaining in the program.
The agency has conducted 400 site visits to providers since January, including providers in high-risk categories such as applied behavior analysis, medical equipment and adult day care.
«Medicaid fraud is a national problem, and it is growing more sophisticated everywhere,» AHCA told Digital.
«Florida is not waiting to be told what to do. We are building the model: prevent fraud at the front door, verify every provider, and follow the data. We welcome partnership with CMS and other states, because a fraudulent provider stopped in Florida is a scheme that does not move on to the next state.»
ron desantis, health care, investigations, enforcement, state and local, florida, politics, minnesota fraud exposed
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The mother of Darya Shipilova, the 28-year-old Irkutsk Anti-Plague Research Institute of Siberia and Far East worker whose death has sparked global public health concerns, pushed back against reports her daughter was infected after she broke a test tube.
Svetlana Shipilova, who is a medical professional, told the Russian outlet Glubina that she does not believe the account circulating regarding her daughter’s demise, according to The Telegraph.
«I know the truth,» she reportedly said. «I’m having to fend off stupid acquaintances who believed all this — the clever ones didn’t believe it, of course.
RUSSIAN BIO-LEAK SECRECY FOLLOWS CHERNOBYL PLAYBOOK, EX-CIA OFFICER WARNS
Darya Shipilova, 28, an employee of the Irkutsk Anti-Plague Research Institute of Siberia and the Far East, died after developing pneumonia of an unknown cause, prompting quarantines and heightened health precautions in the region. Russian authorities say testing has found no evidence her illness was linked to pathogens she worked with. (East2West news)
«Not even all medical professionals understand it’s impossible to break a test tube like that,» she added. «Even if you fling it at the wall. Only an amateur could say something like that.
«Even hypothetically, you simply can’t spill what’s inside or break the tube — they’re that well protected,» the mother reportedly said.
She also asserted to reporters, «They simply let my daughter die.»
TRUMP RESPONDS TO CONCERNS OVER SUSPECTED PLAGUE CASE IN RUSSIA, SAYING US ‘WILLING TO HELP’
World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus speaks on stage as he attends the The World Forum 2026 on the «Future of Democracy, AI/Tech, and Humankind» as part of the «Cinema for Peace» events in Berlin, on February 16, 2026. (Adam BERRY / AFP via Getty Images)
Russian public health agency Rospotrebnadzor has said that the woman died of «pneumonia of unknown origin» and that «extensive» testing uncovered no evidence the individual’s illness was caused by any of the pathogens she worked with.
World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus noted during remarks on Wednesday that «we don’t yet have the full picture of this event, and we are not able to conduct a full risk assessment.»
RUSSIAN RESEARCHER’S MYSTERY DEATH COULD BE ‘FAR WORSE’ THAN THE PLAGUE, FORMER SENIOR TRUMP OFFICIAL WARNS
A view of the entrance to the grounds of the anti-plague institute in the city of Irkutsk on Oct. 7, 2026. (TATYANA MAKEYEVA / AFP via Getty Images)
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said in part of a Tuesday post on X, «CDC is aware of and closely monitoring reports of a suspected case of pneumonic plague in the Irkutsk region of Russia that resulted in a death. We are working across the U.S. government to assess developments as additional information becomes available.»
The Associated Press contributed to this report
world, health, russia, world health organization
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani has come under fire for his comments on the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel, but two leading voices in New York politics have so far remained quiet.
Mamdani’s post on Wednesday briefly acknowledged Hamas’ blitz on Israel that left more than 1,100 Israelis dead and more than 250 others captured and held hostage by the terrorist organization. But the bulk of his statement spent time on criticizing Israel for its actions in Gaza in the three years since.
«The suffering did not begin nor end that day. It instead continued through the Israeli government’s devastating, ongoing genocide in Gaza, in which it has killed more than 74,000 Palestinians — including more than 21,000 children,» Mamdani said on X. «Even since the so-called ceasefire, more than 1,400 Palestinians have been killed.»
MAMDANI DOUBLES DOWN ON ANTI-ISRAEL OCT 7 STATEMENT AFTER BACKLASH
«That suffering has intensified with every Israeli bomb dropped on ambulances waiting outside hospitals, every drone strike targeting a residential building or journalist, and every shipment of food aid turned away at a border crossing,» he continued. «Many New Yorkers are reckoning with this unbearable grief, and we mourn alongside them — all while knowing that our tax dollars fund these war crimes.»
Mamdani notably did not mention the Jewish community in New York City, which is home to nearly 1 million Jews, according to a 2023 study from the UJA-Federation of New York.
And while at least one New York Democrat, Rep. Dan Goldman, laid into Mamdani for his comments, neither Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer nor House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, the two most powerful Democrats in Congress, has reacted.
MAMDANI’S $30M PLAN TO FIGHT ANTISEMITISM INCLUDES INCREASED FUNDING FOR ANTI-ISRAEL GROUP
«This is a reprehensible statement on the anniversary of the horrific terrorist attack by a Palestinian terrorist organization against innocent Israelis,» Goldman said on X. «In the guise of ‘grieving’ with those mourning that day, Mayor Mamdani asserts as fact hotly disputed allegations that he knows full well will offend and further upset those same people he pretends to grieve with.»
Neither Schumer nor Jeffries responded to requests for comment on Mamdani’s remarks. They put out their own statements on the Oct. 7 attack on Wednesday.
Schumer, who is Jewish, noted that the attack was the «single deadliest day in Jewish history since the Holocaust.» His support of Israel has become a wedge issue for some Senate Democrats, who have slowly pushed back against funding arms for Israel following three years of conflict in Gaza.
DEM SENATOR WHO DEMANDED SAUDI ACCOUNTABILITY OVER KHASHOGGI MEETS WITH CROWN PRINCE, PUSHES PALESTINIAN STATE
«Today, we reaffirm our commitment to the security of the Israeli people, to the aid and wellbeing of the Palestinian people and the recovery of the devastation in Gaza that the ensuing conflict brought, and to doubling down on efforts for a lasting peace resulting in two states where Israelis and Palestinians can live side by side in equal measures of peace, security, dignity, and mutual recognition,» Schumer said.
Jeffries was more aligned with Schumer’s left flank in his statement, while recognizing that «we are reminded of the painful reality that the Jewish people are in a constant struggle for survival, as has been the case for thousands of years.»
«Throughout the past three years, considerable suffering has plagued the Middle East. The horrific death of Palestinian civilians, destruction of civil society and devastation in Gaza is reprehensible and can never be allowed to happen again,» Jeffries said.
«In order to end the vicious cycle of bloodshed, for the good of the Israeli and Palestinian people, American policy in the region must change dramatically,» he continued. «We must commit to the creation of an independent Palestinian state to provide dignity, respect and self-determination for the Palestinian people.»
politics, zohran mamdani, chuck schumer, new york city, hamas
INTERNACIONAL
Balotaje en Brasil: crece el descontento con el rol de la primera dama en la campaña de Lula y piden un cambio de estrategia
A 17 días del balotaje del 25 de octubre en Brasil, el oficialista Partido de los Trabajadores (PT) quedó envuelto en una fuerte interna ante los crecientes cuestionamientos al influyente rol de la primera dama Janja Lula en la campaña electoral de su esposo y presidente, Lula da Silva.
“Más Alckmin, menos Janja”, clamó la dirigente petista y exsenadora Katya Abreu al pedir una mayor participación en la campaña del actual vicepresidente, Gerardo Alckmin, quien aspira a renovar su cargo.
El vice es una respetada figura de centro que le ha servido a Lula para tranquilizar a los mercados y a sectores empresariales por sus posturas más moderadas dentro del gobierno de izquierda.
A Rosângela da Silva, más conocida como Janja, se le achaca una exagerada participación en la campaña previa al primer turno de las elecciones del domingo pasado ganadas por el candidato derechista Flávio Bolsonaro con dos puntos de ventaja (47% a 45%) sobre Lula.
La primera dama no solo acompañó a su esposo en las giras de campaña, sino que además habló y cantó en numerosos actos públicos. Algunos dirigentes del PT afirman por lo bajo que su figura, vista como radical, genera más rechazo que simpatías en el electorado. También la cuestionan por manejar a su antojo la agenda de su esposo.
“Su participación en la campaña fue negativa, tal como lo fue durante todo el gobierno. Es políticamente torpe: se expresa de manera inoportuna y fuera del tono adecuado. Además, transmite una imagen de cierto deslumbramiento ante la posición que ha adquirido”, dijo a TN el analista brasileño Claudio Couto, de la Fundación Getúlio Vargas.
Las críticas de Katya Abreu
Hasta ahora, los cuestionamientos se hacían puertas y en voz baja adentro del PT. Pero el fuerte golpe del primer turno aceleró la crisis.
La ex senadora Katya Abreu fue tajante al pedir que la saquen del medio.
“No se trata de género, sino de prioridades electorales. ¿Genera simpatía? ¿Consigue votos? Nos estamos dando cuenta de que no, y todo el mundo habla de ello. Eso no le resta valor. Podría ser yo. Esto de generar simpatía o no es una etapa de la vida. Ahora mismo, no la genera. En este momento, ¿cuál es la prioridad: ¿aparecer en público o elegir a su marido? Para mí, es elegir a Lula. No se trata de ser duro con ella, sino de ser duro con sus excesos que no generan nada positivo«, afirmó.
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