TRAFFICKED

TO

TREATMENT

WHAT HAPPENED 

THE IMPACT

THE SOLUTION

WHAT HAPPENED?

 Overview of the Medicaid Fraud Schemes


Fraudulent sober living homes and facilities targeted Native Relatives

What Happened?

  • Promised housing , food & treatment
  • Trafficked relatives into unsafe "homes"
  • Billed AHCCCS for services never provided
  • Exploited the American Indian Health Plan

   

 THE IMPACT


  •     7,000+ Indigenous Relatives    are  VICTIMS
  • Families separated and loved ones remain missing
  • Survivors left unsheltered, hungry & retraumatized
  • DEATHS linked to overdose and neglect
  • 3 billion + STOLEN from AHCCCS under the American Indian Health Plan and continue under the Marketplace plans today
  • Billing for outpatient health services increased from $53.5million in 2019 to $668million in 2022, a 1148% increase in just three years
  • Estimated total cost to taxpayers is at $2.8billion and climbing IN 2025.
  • There are reports of at least 2000 deaths in these homes in less than 5 years continuously increasing
  • As of June 2024, over 385 providers were suspended by AHCCCS and 73 individuals indicted in connection to the fraud.

Bad actors exploited AHCCCS' program and billing systems responsible for AIHP members which requires no contracting or credentialing process. An outdated billing systems coupled with no audits on oversight of payments created a perfect storm ripe for fraud. Bad actors continued to traffic, house and bill for American Indians of treatment in which never occurred.

Systemic failures

&

red flags missed

Complaints from the public went uninvestigated. Zero audits and oversight allowed AHCCCS billings to increase exponentially. Oversight including follow up surveys/annual site surveys did not take place with newly license operators which led to a lack of investigation of flop houses posing as licensed sober living homes. Lack of Enforcement of State Laws that prohibit patient brokering and referrals to unlicensed homes also was an issue of oversight. AZ Rev Stat § 13-3730 (2018)


 

Empowering & Educating Tribal commuities

  • Collaborate with tribal leaders to develop culturally specific prevention and treatment resources directly in Native Communities.
  • Launch public awareness campaigns to educate tribal members on warning signs of fraudulent facilities and how to report suspected abuse.
  • Establish dedicated support services and reintegration programs for victims displaced by fraudulent sober living homes.

Grassroots response & advocacy

Turtle Island Women Warriors

continue to advocate for the unsheltered. continue to GATHER information and REPORT displaced victims, missing relatives and deceased relatives on a daily basis.

  • We field hundred of calls from families searching for missing relatives.
  • We distribute supplies & Aide to displaced victims living on the streets of Phoenix and when able arrange transportation back to their homelands.


dATA cOLLECTION

Turtle Island Women Warriors Leadership Team with its volunteer's field hundreds of calls from families searching for missing relatives. 

Contact US

BOOTS ON THE GROUND OUTREACH


Distribution of Care Packages received from collected donations are assembled and packaged to be distributed to displaced victims living on the streets of Phoenix.


Each Care Package comes with:

  • Hygiene Kit
  • First Aid Kit
  • Snack Pack
  • Hydration Kit
  • Winter Bundle Kit



devastating consequences for American Indian Communities

Estimated 2000+ American Indians deceased or unaccounted for after being trafficked to fraudulent facilities.



Victims faced neglect, abuse and squalor living conditions without treatment of any kind.



Strain on tribal resource and services as families search for missing loved ones with support returning victims to their tribal reservations.

Turtle Island Women Warriors Leadership Team and its Volunteers have assisted THOUSANDS of beneficiaries through local outreach distributions and transportation back home to tribal lands.


February 2022 to October 2025

  • Assisted less than 100 families out of Arizona in travels with Plane Tickets to: Alaska, Montana including North & South Dakota.
  • Assisted over $30,000 of our own funds to assist relatives home 
  • Summer & Fall Seasons over 5k care packages distributed and over 1000 bus passes for local Phoenix Zip Codes. (Since the implementation of New Valley Metro Bus Pass System, local bus passes have been at halt of assisting).


Investing in legitimate treatment infrastructure

Allocating funds to expand access with evidence-based, culturally responsive substance abuse and mental health services on tribal lands to support training and professional development for Native Behavioral health workers. Building long term treatment capacities and partnerships with reputable providers to establish best practices for service native clients with cultural humility could help avoid humanitarian issues within American Indigenous Communities.

Strengthening oversight

enforcement

To EDUCATE our communities and provide RESOURCES to those affected by this fraud. Turtle Island Women Warriors will continue to SHINE a light and bring JUSTICE for our NATIVE RELATIVES!

implement

Regular audits and enhanced data analysis to identify billing irregularities and suspicious provider networks.


Educate our communities and provide resources to those affected by this fraud. A small shine of light to bring justice for our American Indian Relatives and the unfortunately silenced.

Investigate

prosecute

&

Enforce

Increase funding with its resources for investigating and prosecuting AHCCCS fraud and patient brokering schemes as there is already State Laws on the books for patient brokering and referrals to unlicensed homes.

communicate

&

coordinate

Improve communication and coordination between state agencies and tribal authorities.


Direct Coordination with one-on-one communication with Installed Taskforce Agencies and Other Trusted Organizations to create a networking database to better access up to date data.