“New Yorkers should be outraged by reports that essentially vacant adult daycare centers have billed Medicaid tens of millions of dollars.

“This isn't about politics. It's about basic accountability for taxpayer dollars.

“Earlier this year, the state comptroller warned that New York's oversight of social adult daycare programs was inadequate. Now we are seeing reports of facilities receiving millions of dollars through Medicaid while appearing to serve few, if any, people.

“Where was the oversight?

“New York spends billions of taxpayer dollars every year on Medicaid to provide critical health care and services to people who genuinely need them. Every dollar lost to waste, fraud or abuse is a dollar that isn't helping a senior, a person with a disability or another vulnerable New Yorker.

“The Department of Health and the Office of the Medicaid Inspector General need to immediately investigate these reports and provide a full accounting of how these facilities were monitored, what services taxpayers paid for and whether any Medicaid funds should be recovered.

“New Yorkers deserve to know where their money is going, who is responsible for watching it and why these warning signs weren't caught sooner.”