The Shawn Ryan Show #297 Nick Shirley - Inside California’s $222 Billion Medi-Cal Crisis
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Apr 20, 2026 
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Why A New Fraud Task Force Was Created
- Nick Shirley says agencies missed fraud because Treasury, HHS, and other departments were not sharing suspicious-payment signals.
- He credits a new federal fraud task force for forcing cross-agency communication and expects prosecutions to increase.
Minnesota Backlash After Fraud Reporting
- After Shirley's Minnesota reporting, some left-wing critics tried to blame him for ICE-related violence he says he had nothing to do with.
- He says politicians shifted attention from fraud by encouraging protests, including schools closing and Ilhan Omar rallying crowds.
California Medi Cal Spending Exploded Faster Than Enrollment
- Shirley highlights California's Medi-Cal jump from $108 billion in 2022 to a proposed $222 billion in 2026 despite limited population growth.
- He argues giant, complex programs create deep webs of billing that make fraud harder to detect and stop.