Authored by Jeremy Portnoy via RealClearInvestigations,

Topline: A Louisiana woman was arrested and charged with fraud last month after allegedly underreporting her income to qualify for Medicaid. The state Bureau of Investigation claims that Candace Taylor, 35, bought a Lamborghini and owned six businesses that earned almost $10 million in five years while on federal assistance. The case has been featured in FOX News, USA Today and dozens of other news outlets.

Key facts: Taylor allegedly applied for Medicaid in 2019 using the fake name Candace Sailor and claiming that she earned less than $4,000 per month. That application was denied, but she allegedly submitted a successful application the next year using the same alias.

Authorities said that, while on Medicaid, Taylor spent $100,000 at the exotic car dealership Tactical Fleet and made $45,086 in vehicle payments to Audi Finance. She also supposedly spent $13,000 to help pay for a 2022 Lamborghini Urus, which has a retail price of $229,495.

Other alleged purchases included cosmetic surgery and high-end jewelry. State agents said they found the purchases on Taylor’s tax return, and she also showed them off on social media. She lives in Slidell, a suburb outside New Orleans.

Taylor’s businesses allegedly generated $9.5 million of revenue from January 2020 to December 2024. Prosecutors say that Taylor’s bank account funds increased by $481,000 in 2020, even though she claimed no income on her Medicaid forms.

Background: Taylor’s case stands out from other Medicaid errors because of her alleged extravagant lifestyle, but the cash she received is just a drop in the bucket compared to overall Medicaid mistakes. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has made $1 trillion in improper payments across both programs in the past decade.

Louisiana spent $103 million in 2023 and 2024 on Medicaid for patients who did not actually live in the state, according to a recent audit of the state Department of Health. In past years, that could have contributed to the $4.3 billion the state and federal governments spent from 2019 to 2021 to insure Medicaid patients who already had coverage in other states.

Search all federal, state and local salaries and vendor spending with the world’s largest government spending database at OpenTheBooks.com. 

Summary: Stories like Taylor’s are outlandish enough for the front pages of tabloids, but they’re also a reminder of how much health-care funding is redirected from those who actually need it.

The #WasteOfTheDay is brought to you by the forensic auditors at OpenTheBooks.com