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TOMORROW is Tax Day!
Tomorrow is Tax Day! If you haven't done so already, make sure you file your taxes as soon as possible to avoid any penalties or late fees. If you can't file by the due date of your return, you can request an automatic 6-month extension of time to file. Please be aware that:
Click here for an interactive resource regarding federal tax brackets and rates.
Submissions for the Congressional Art Competition are Due in One Week!
I wanted to remind you all that submissions for the 2025 Congressional Art Competition, An Artistic Discovery, are due in one week for high school students residing in Arizona’s First Congressional District!
Find 2025 official rules, regulations, and student release form on my website, along with the winners from previous years. A reminder that students and high school art teachers will need to complete TWO copies of the 2025 student release forms:
1. one to turn in upon submission, and
2. the other attached to the back of their artwork.
Artwork submissions will be collected next Monday at the Scottsdale Artists’ School at 3720 N. Marshall Way, Scottsdale, AZ 85251, between 3 p.m. and 5 p.m. on Monday, April 21. This is the only time available for students to submit their artwork. If students or teachers have any questions, please contact Chris Wiley of my District Office staff at (480) 946-2411. I am looking forward to seeing the creativity of young artists in our community on display!
JEC Hearing Advocating for Unified, AI-Powered Federal Systems to Combat Waste and Modernize Healthcare
Last week, the United States Joint Economic Committee held a hearing titled "Reducing Waste, Fraud and Abuse Through Innovation: How AI & Data Can Improve Government Efficiency". I challenged witnesses and agencies to move beyond reports and into real-world implementation of advanced technology tools—especially artificial intelligence and centralized data systems.
I engaged with witness Dr. Brian Miller regarding how technology can improve both cost and access of healthcare for Americans. I focused on how to move risk adjustment coding to the front end to prevent fraud and keeping folks healthier instead of incentivizing ‘sicker’ scoring through reshaping incentives in programs like Medicare Advantage.
I then explored the concept of an AI-driven, “living system” approach to fraud detection—modeled after cybersecurity strategies. Fraud analytics have to be living systems due to the ever-changing nature of fraud. Another witness, Dr. Sterling Thomas endorsed this approach and recommended looking to existing models like PACE, a centralized analytics program used to coordinate fraud prevention efforts.
Moving from ideas to impact will require more than reports—it will require commitment, collaboration, and congressional leadership. If these data sources across government actually communicated between one another, you could mine and design from a single location.
Recognizing Some Amazing Citizens of AZ-01
Last week, members of my staff got the chance to tour the University of Arizona's Scottsdale Center! The Scottsdale Center was established to serve as a gathering space and destination for prospective students, faculty/staff members, alumni, and community and business leaders in Maricopa County. The Center is a place to promote engagement, exchange ideas, foster collaboration and advance initiatives that extend the university's land-grant mission throughout Arizona.
With several collaborative spaces like the Bear Down Conference Center, modern meeting rooms, open-concept desks, and small group offices, University of Arizona faculty, staff and alumni can take advantage of this accommodating space as a place to work for a few hours, days or weeks. Thank you to the University of Arizona Scottsdale Center for having us!
Appropriations Request Submission is Finally Live on my Website
The wait to submit your Fiscal year 2026 (FY26) Appropriations requests is finally over! Please find our FY26 Appropriations forms here. The forms will also be available on our website. Please note that I will only be accepting programmatic and language requests for FY2026. No requests for community funding projects will be accepted.
All requests are due by 5:00 p.m. on April 30, 2025. Applications received after this date will not be accepted. Individuals and organizations must respond to all questions on the form. Incomplete forms will not be accepted. Please reach out to either of my offices shall you have any questions.
What I'm Reading & Why It Matters
For today's 'What I'm Reading' section, I want to get you caught up to speed on the continuing saga of fraudulent practices within the Medicare Advantage system. Trust me when I say this: you're going to want to read this one.
In March of 2024, the House Energy and Commerce Committee, the House Ways and Means Committee, and the House Oversight and Accountability committee requested briefings from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Inspector General and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Administrator. The letter focused on how fraud that decreased during Trump’s first administration was reported as increasing during Biden’s administration. What HHS has recognized as $2 billion in fraud was found to total as much as $3 billion, per committee suspicion.
In July of that same year, Wall Street Journal began their sequel of investigative reporting, outlining from 2018 to 2021, private insurers involved in the government’s Medicare Advantage program made hundreds of thousands of questionable diagnoses that triggered extra taxpayer-funded payments. Many of these insurers tied back to UnitedHealth Group. Medicare pays insurers more for sicker patients; therefore, the false diagnoses only positively impact those participating insurers like units attached to UnitedHealth who were offering these free check ups and diagnosing.
As a response to these findings, I authored eight individual letters requesting additional context from each professional mentioned in the WSJ article. Six out of the eight letters garnered a response. Following the conversations, the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) ran an analysis from 2022 and found overpayments to MA plans of $7.5 billion for 2023 (from home visits in 2022).
After a comprehensive roundup published in January 2025 summarizing the months-long investigation, February unveiled a new civil fraud case by the Department of Justice to probe further into UnitedHealth Group’s actions. Records show diagnoses made by UnitedHealth-employed doctors skyrocketed after the company joined Medicare Advantage. While UnitedHealth has claimed increasing diagnoses incentivizes preventative care, there are many reports of false diagnoses especially by home-visit nurses.
Later that same month, on February 24, Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa wrote Chief Executive Andrew Witty of UnitedHealth Group demanding transparency for their billing practices for Medicare. Grassley's letter was catalyzed by findings like the Wall Street Journal's data analysis that supported the idea that UnitedHealthcare was paid billions based on Medicare beneficiaries' diagnoses, despite actual treatment being administered. Grassley requested the turnover of training manuals and guidance documents, as well as data on in-home visits, medical charts, audit results, lists of software used, and details of UnitedHealth's compliance program. WSJ reported they, "found Medicare Advantage insurers collectively received $50 billion in payments for insurer-driven diagnoses that weren’t listed in claims by any treating doctors or hospitals from 2019 to 2021."
And finally, last week (April 9), I authored a letter to CMS Director, Dr. Mehmet Oz, expressing concern with the rise in improper payments for large amounts for supplies and treatments that were unwarranted, per research and analysis from the Government Accountability Office and the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Inspector General. This latest attempt at achieving transparency will certainly not be my last attempt at doing what's right for the American taxpayer. I encourage you to keep an eye out for our next efforts that work to protect program benefits for future generations to come. Click here to read the full investigative series from the Wall Street Journal. |