Dr. Oz Demands Fraud Audits of Union Dues of Home-Health Workers
EXCLUSIVE — The Department of Health and Human Services is scrutinizing the automatic deduction of union dues from home healthcare workers pay by state Medicaid programs as part of the Trump administration’s broader goal of reducing waste in social safety net programs.
TL;DR
- The Department of Health and Human Services is scrutinizing automatic union dues deductions for home healthcare workers paid by state Medicaid programs.
- CMS administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz has requested nine states audit their Medicaid programs to verify explicit consent for union dues deductions.
- This action could affect funding for public sector unions aligned with Democrats.
- Home health workers are often considered public-sector workers who benefit from union contracts.
- The audits are in line with the 2018 Supreme Court case Janus v. AFSCME and current HHS regulations finalized under the Biden administration.
- States must ensure consent is clear, affirmative, voluntary, informed, and revocable.
- States must terminate impermissible dues-related payment structures.
- Results of the state audits are due by August 6th.