Operation Rainbow Bridge, the Navajo Nation's outreach effort to find Native Americans who were victims of behavioral health care fraud, is beginning to wind down its efforts in the Valley.
Outreach teams from the Navajo Nation went home at the end of last week.
After a month of searching, they located 271 Native Americans who were tricked into coming to the Valley with promises of food, shelter and treatment for behavioral health or substance abuse issues.
Many of them ended up on the street but not before Arizona's Healthcare Cost Containment System was billed for treatment and housing costs.
It's a bill Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes has said could be in the hundreds of millions of dollars.
"If there is not a willingness to impose a regulatory framework, where there is a criteria and licensing for these providers, I am concerned there is not a long term solution here," said Navajo Nation Attorney General Ethel Branch.
When Operation Rainbow Bridge was first announced, the Navajo Nation believed between 5,000 to 7,000 Navajos may have been victims of the fraud.
Branch thinks many of the fraudulent billings were for people whose names or insurance cards were used without their knowledge.
Since the state announced its crackdown last month, Arizona suspended payments to 219 behavioral health care providers who are accused of fraudulently billion AHCCCS dating back to 2019.
Navajo Nation Attorney General Ethel Branch says the crackdown helps, but she doesn't believe it's solving the problem.
"We are seeing that even as homes are being shut down it doesn't necessarily mean people are being displaced. We're hearing from the public; people are being moved to different places," she said.
Branch says local governments and the legislature will need to come up with stricter licensing requirements and oversight for companies looking to set up sober living centers.
