PHOENIX — Navajo Nation council members are speaking out about recent reports of fraudulent treatment centers targeting Native Americans as part of a health care benefits scheme.
Earlier this week, Arizona officials announced potentially thousands of vulnerable Native Americans have been taken off the reservations and driven to Phoenix with promises of food and shelter. They’re promised treatment for their substance abuse by behavioral health companies who are allegedly scamming the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System.
"We have credible reason to believe they have defrauded the state medical program out of hundreds of millions of dollars," Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs said.
The governor said once the patients arrived at the treatment centers they weren't allowed to leave or contact family. Some escaped by climbing through windows and scaling fences.
Governor Hobbs and Attorney General Kris Mayes announced the state suspended payments to more than 100 health care providers. All of them were accused of billing AHCCCS for services that were grossly misrepresented or never rendered.
However, Phoenix isn’t the only city experiencing this fraudulent activity. The City of Gallup, New Mexico says members of nearby tribes, including Zuni Tribal members, are being targeted by perpetrators there.
Gallup Police Department has reportedly investigated nearly three dozen cases involving “sober homes” since 2022, as well as 74 missing person cases. Many of those cases are still open.
Tribal officials are speaking out to bring awareness to the happenings and bring proper access to treatment centers to those who need them.
The Navajo Nation Executive Branch is also working to provide displaced members of the tribe either back home to the Navajo Nation or to true service providers through “Operation Rainbow Bridge.”
A press release states: "Delegate Dr. Nez urged law enforcement and government agencies to deliver information in the Navajo language to inform Navajo people who do not speak or understand the English language and to develop and strengthen more cross-commissioning agreements that allow law enforcement agencies to partner and combine resources."
Leaders said Friday that with Navajo Police Department on the ground now, its team has found about two dozen Navajos, including seven women, in the last 24 hours.
The belief is more than 1,000 Navajos are victims of behavioral health fraud.
