Republican New York attorney general candidate Saritha Komatireddy has accused incumbent Attorney General Letitia James of failing to aggressively prosecute Medicaid fraud, citing a significant decline in recoveries under her leadership. Komatireddy claims that Medicaid fraud recoveries have plummeted from $168 million in 2019 to $31 million in 2024, according to data from the New York Attorney General's annual reports.
The issue has gained national attention following a Minnesota scandal involving billions of dollars in alleged fraud tied to public assistance programs. The Trump administration, with Vice President JD Vance leading the effort, has prioritized cracking down on such fraud, prompting Republican candidates across the country to call for stronger state-level enforcement.
Komatireddy argues that James and her Democratic predecessors have not adequately addressed Medicaid fraud, stating that the decline in prosecutions is a bipartisan failure. She claims taxpayers could be losing out on hundreds of millions of dollars in potential recoveries.
Before James took office, New York attorneys general, including Eliot Spitzer and Andrew Cuomo, routinely recovered large sums in Medicaid fraud cases. Under Spitzer, the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit recovered $243.6 million in 2006, while Cuomo's office recovered over $660 million in his first three years. Eric Schneiderman, Cuomo's successor, also achieved significant recoveries.
The decline in recoveries under James has become a key issue in the New York attorney general race, with Republicans calling for an independent investigation into Medicaid fraud following the Minnesota revelations.