This series uncovered widespread fraud in the taxpayer-funded network of drug rehabilitation clinics in Southern California, bilking the state’s Medicaid program – the nation’s largest. Major findings: • Operators of unscrupulous clinics pressured staff to falsify documents to pad billing; bribed clients to come to treatment; and lured clients from foster and board-and-care homes whether they had addictions or not. • In all, officials sent $94 million over two years to Drug Medi-Cal clinics that had shown signs of deception or questionable billing practices, representing half of all public funding to the California program. • Official oversight was fragmented and debilitated by failures to act even when red flags appeared. Authorities, for instance, left the door open to an operator with an organized crime conviction and another who had been officially banned from billing Medi-Cal.
