On October 22, 2026, the director of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), Mr. Oz, visited the Evergreen community in Flushing, USA. Following the visit, the founder of the Evergreen Adult Day Care Center, James Koo, who is of Korean descent, denied allegations of overbilling Medicaid (also known as the “white card”). Koo emphasized that the visit by CMS was not an FBI raid. He mentioned his support for federal investigations into white card fraud, pointing out that some day centers have engaged in cash incentives to attract members, with amounts escalating from tens of dollars to $700 to $1,000 per month, leading to cutthroat competition among operators.
The Evergreen Adult Day Care Center in Flushing, run by a Korean-American, James Koo, denied claims of overbilling Medicaid. CMS officials visited approximately 100 daycare centers in New York City on the 20th of October. While these centers received letters from CMS, receiving a letter does not equate to being flagged for wrongdoing.
Responding to reports by Fox News of future dates on attendance logs and signatures, Koo explained that two members with Alzheimer’s had unknowingly signed on multiple dates in the forms. He clarified that the center does not report fees based on paper signatures, as they use an electronic system with paper documents serving as backups.
Regarding discrepancies between the number of attendees observed during the visit by Mr. Oz and the claimed daily attendance of 150-200 seniors, Koo clarified that the figure of 150 includes both locations, with around 40 present at one of the centers on the day of the visit. Attendance is scheduled based on insurance approval, with more attendees on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, and fewer on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Koo highlighted that judging whether there’s fraud solely based on daily headcounts is inadequate.
The financial manager, Han, disclosed that the two centers typically host around 100 individuals on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, and 40 to 50 people on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Not all members are permitted to attend every day. The center director noted that routine on-site audits and inspections are conducted. If improvements are requested, they submit plans and supporting documents. Han mentioned around seven to eight audits or inspections annually, with Mr. Oz’s recent visit focusing on interviews rather than checks.
Expressing his opposition to using cash incentives to attract members, Koo mentioned his decade-long efforts to address this issue with the government. He criticized operators offering money to members, starting from $50 or $100 and increasing to $700 to $1,000 monthly. Some providers bundle services like day care, home care, and durable medical equipment to maximize profits from a single member, part of which is shared with the member.
Koo stressed that this competitive environment shifted the focus to monetary incentives rather than service quality. He noted that his six-to-seven-year stint managing six centers serving 2,000 members had to be scaled down to two locations with about 300 members due to cutthroat competition pulling members away. Regarding recent crackdowns by the FBI and prosecutor’s offices on white card fraud in day care centers, Koo expressed optimism, believing that the actions would benefit compliant operators in the long run, stating, “I’m glad this is happening; I’ve been fighting against this for over a decade.”