Empty Senior Centers, $100M in Medicaid Bills: Inside New York’s Adult Day-Care Crisis

A media investigation found 77 social adult day-care centers clustered within roughly one mile of downtown Flushing, Queens, with reported Medicaid billing exceeding $100 million annually. Some appeared closed or nearly empty during visits—but the findings raise questions, not proof that every provider committed fraud.

THE NY PULSE INVESTIGATION

FLUSHING, N.Y. — A publicly funded system intended to help elderly and disabled New Yorkers remain in their communities is facing renewed scrutiny following reports of extraordinary Medicaid billing, aggressive patient recruitment and apparently inactive social adult day-care centers.

A New York Post investigation identified 77 social adult day-care centers within approximately one mile of downtown Flushing.

According to the newspaper’s analysis of government billing data, those centers billed Medicaid more than $100 million annually, representing approximately 14% of New York’s spending on social adult day-care services.

The investigation reported that Flushing centers billed a combined $733 million between 2018 and 2024, the latest year included in the data reviewed by the newspaper.

When reporters visited several of the locations, some appeared closed during business hours. Others reportedly had empty dining rooms or few visible participants. Employees at several centers declined to answer questions or permit reporters to enter.

Those observations raise legitimate questions about attendance, services and billing. They do not establish that every center committed fraud.

The centers identified in the neighborhood survey have not been collectively charged with crimes, and several individual facilities highlighted in the report have not been accused of fraudulent conduct.

The description of Flushing as New York’s “medical fraud capital” is therefore a media characterization—not an official determination by prosecutors, auditors or a court.