An Ohio attorney and self-described whistleblower claims that a broader Medicaid fraud scheme—recently highlighted by federal cases in Minnesota—may also be affecting Ohio, according to a report from Fox News published Friday.
Attorney Mehek Cooke told Fox News she has spoken with Medicaid providers within Ohio’s Somali-American community who say they felt pressured to take part in improper billing tied to fabricated or exaggerated medical conditions.
Her comments come as investigators in Minnesota have detailed extensive alleged misuse of public funds—reported as totaling more than $1 billion—drawing national attention to how some Medicaid and related programs can be exploited.
Cooke alleged that in Ohio, scammers may be leveraging a Medicaid policy that can pay substantial sums for home health care provided to a family member. She claimed that, in some cases, medical approvals were issued with little scrutiny and that providers or doctors may have benefited financially for signing off on the claims.
“They’re just rubberstamping a lot of these,” Cooke said, describing situations in which a person reportedly deemed severely ill later appears active on social media. “So, the symptoms aren’t really adding up at the end of the day.”
Cooke emphasized that programs allowing family members to provide legitimate care can also be vulnerable to abuse if oversight is weak. She claimed that certain participants have found ways to game the system by billing for care that isn’t needed.
Following federal charges in Minnesota, another whistleblower, Christopher Bernardini, separately alleged that a Somali-owned health services contractor in Maine falsified records to improperly benefit from Medicaid, Fox News reported.
Cooke argued that the Minnesota cases represent only a small part of what could be happening elsewhere. “What we’re seeing in Minneapolis is just a snippet of what’s happening in Ohio,” she said.
