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The administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), Mehmet Oz, known as Dr. Oz, reported that several Cuban migrants would be involved in schemes to defraud the public health system of the United States and that, after illegally obtaining millions of dollars, they flee to Cuba with the money.
In statements to Fox News, Oz claimed that fraud “is being instrumentalized” and that in many cases it involves foreigners.
"We cannot allow this to continue," he emphasized while explaining that the irregularities affect funds intended to supply medical equipment—such as wheelchairs and canes—to American patients.
As a response, CMS imposed a national six-month moratorium on the approval of new durable medical equipment (durable medical equipment) suppliers in the United States.
According to Oz, several of the companies under investigation, many of which are owned by Cuban citizens, were billing Medicare for equipment that they never delivered.
Instead of providing the devices, they allegedly stole the beneficiaries' numbers and created fictitious companies to divert public funds.
“They are falsely billing five million dollars in a month for non-existent equipment. Then they flee to Cuba. When we try to recover the money, it has already been transferred abroad,” he reported.
The official suggested that the use of the term “instrumentalized” points to a possible coordination from abroad, although no public evidence of direct involvement by the Cuban government was presented.
In parallel, President Donald Trump announced this week that Vice President JD Vance will lead a “war against fraud” in federal programs.
Vance asserted that billions of dollars allocated for American citizens are being diverted through fraudulent schemes linked to immigrants in various states.
So far, the authorities have not released detailed official figures about the number of companies linked to Cuban citizens or the total amount allegedly diverted.
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