BREAKING: New State Findings Raise Serious Questions About Aaron Ford's Medicaid Fraud Prosecutions and Recovery Claims

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

July 9, 2026

Contact: press@joelombardofornv.com

LAS VEGAS, NV - New information uncovered through Assemblyman Blayne Osborn's inquiry into Nevada's Medicaid fraud recovery process raises serious questions about Attorney General Aaron Ford's handling of Medicaid fraud prosecutions and his office's repeated claims about recovering taxpayer dollars.

Earlier this week, Assemblyman Osborn requested information from the Nevada Health Authority to better understand how Medicaid fraud referrals are handled, how recovered funds are distributed, and how Nevada Medicaid coordinates with the Attorney General's Medicaid Fraud Control Unit. 

In their response to Assemblyman Osborn, the Nevada Health Authority disclosed that only 40% of Medicaid fraud referrals submitted by Nevada Medicaid between 2019 and June 2026 were accepted by the Attorney General's Medicaid Fraud Control Unit for criminal prosecution.

Assemblyman Osborn also asked the Nevada Health Authority to clarify Attorney General Ford's repeated claims that his office recovered more than $40.9 million through Medicaid fraud restitution while securing 36 criminal convictions in 2025.

The Nevada Health Authority responded that it could not confirm whether the state has received those recoveries because it does not have sufficient information to determine how much of the reported funds have been collected, transmitted, remitted to the federal government, or retained by the state. 

Instead, the agency reported receiving approximately $1.6 million from the Attorney General's Office for Medicaid fraud recoveries and referred additional questions regarding the reported $40.9 million back to the Attorney General's Office.

"Assemblyman Osborn asked straightforward oversight questions, but the answers he received raised even more. Why does Aaron Ford decline to prosecute over 60 percent of Medicaid fraud cases that are referred to his office by Nevada Medicaid? And, if Aaron Ford claims to have recovered more than $40 million in Medicaid fraud, why can Nevada Medicaid only verify $1.6 million of those funds? Where is the money? These are serious questions, and Nevada taxpayers deserve answers.” -Halee Dobbins, Lombardo for Governor Spokesperson

Read Assemblyman Osborn's letter and response from the Nevada Health Authority here

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