“The Cost of Denial”, an ongoing series on NBC Nightly News that launched with the Tom Llamas Era, usually spotlights the struggles of individuals and families as they deal with private health insurance. A recent story calling light to potential Medicaid cuts, though, left out a major reason for potential shortfalls in the system. Tonight’s profile: a cerebral palsy patient from Maryland at risk of losing her home aides due to Medicaid cuts implemented in order to patch a budget shortfall. Here is part of that profile: WATCH: @NBCNightlyNews runs a "Cost of Denial" profile of someone at risk due to Medicaid cuts implemented on Maryland in order to patch a budget shortfall. But never is the word "fraud" mentioned. Here is part of that profile. GABE GUTIÉRREZ: Following a budget shortfall in… pic.twitter.com/Sg3y2nooNI — Jorge Bonilla (@BonillaJL) July 8, 2026 GABE GUTIÉRREZ: Following a budget shortfall in Maryland, $126 million were slashed from these programs. Wages for family caregivers and external aides were set to be cut on the first of this month. But after NBC News began asking about the changes, at the last minute, the state postponed the cuts by up to 90 days. ALEXIA FLORY:  I lose my life if these services go away. AIDE: Let me put your hat on because it is hot out here. ALEXIA FLORY: My aides who are helping me do all of these things will go away because they need to find other jobs. GUTIÉRREZ: If all of the proposed cuts take effect, Alexia's parents say they could lose at least $60,000 per year, money that helps keep her living at home. What does that mean for your family? MICHELLE FLORY: Uh, it means that we’re going to have to tap into our 401. We’re going to have to either sell this home and get something smaller. GUTIÉRREZ: They say Alexia's overnight caregiving hours have already been denied. MICHELLE FLORY: I bite my fingers every single night. I just -- I get anxiety. I cry out to God. God, this has got to end. You know, she qualified for everything for five years straight and then this year she doesn't qualify for overnight services, but- but she’s still the same Lexi. GUTIÉRREZ: In a statement, Maryland's Department of Health said costs for these programs skyrocketed by 144% over the last five years, adding the state needed to avoid overspending or risk violating federal guidelines which could jeopardize all of its funding. Alexia feels she and people like her are being unfairly sacrificed to balance the state's budget. Left unaddressed: why costs for home health workers for those who legitimately need them might have skyrocketed over the past five years. Thus is is that viewers are asked to contemplate a story about Medicaid with zero mention whatsoever of the biggest driver of cost overruns: fraud. And Medicaid Fraud is a thing in the Old Line State. A recent indictment, per the Attorney General’s Office: BALTIMORE, MD – Attorney General Anthony G. Brown announced today that an Anne Arundel County Grand Jury returned indictments for nine individuals alleged to have engaged in a coordinated scheme to defraud the Maryland Medicaid program. All of the defendants are related by either blood or marriage.   “Medicaid is a lifeline for thousands of Marylanders with developmental disabilities, helping them access critical care and live independently in their communities. Every dollar these defendants allegedly stole is a dollar that cannot go toward the care and support these residents need and deserve,” said Attorney General Brown. “Our Office will always fight to protect Medicaid and the vulnerable Marylanders it serves.”  A recent audit exposes even more wasteful fraud, abuse, and overall mismanagement. Per ABC7: ANNAPOLIS, Md. (7News) — A newly released state audit is raising serious questions about how Maryland is managing its multibillion-dollar Medicaid program, which provides health coverage to roughly 1.5 million residents across the state. The findings are drawing renewed attention to oversight within one of the state’s largest and most expensive public health systems, after auditors flagged what they describe as significant payment errors and long-standing administrative issues. The audit gave the Maryland Department of Health’s Medical Care Programs Administration an “unsatisfactory” rating for the second consecutive review cycle. According to the report, $9.2 million in Medicaid payments were issued for individuals who were deceased or incarcerated at the time services were billed. Auditors say those payments point to breakdowns in eligibility tracking and verification systems. $2.3 million was paid to recipients missing required income or citizenship documentation in 2024. The report also found Maryland spent approximately $145 million on recipients who appeared to qualify for Medicare, a federal program that could have shifted costs away from the state and reduced overall Medicaid spending. The redundant spending on potential Medicare beneficiaries alone could’ve covered the shortfall exposed by NBC News. But Senior White House Correspondent Gabe Gutierrez failed to even consider that angle. God forbid Big Government should be cast as incompetent or wasteful. In this case, though, that label was warranted. The patient who was profiled in the report has a legitimate need for assistance. This isn’t some fraudster using a “learing center” to milk the government out of millions. An American in need is at risk of losing access to an available government program due to systemic incompetence at the local level.  Rather than calling out the incompetence of the government in Maryland, Gutierrez tries to blame the Trump administration for unspecified future cuts. An opportunity was wasted in service of upholding a double standard.   Click “expand” to view the full transcript of the aforementioned report as aired on NBC Nightly News on Tuesday, July 7th, 2026: TOM LLAMAS: We're back now with our series "The Cost of Denial," where we investigate issues with people faced with insurance and health care. Tonight, Gabe Gutierrez reports on how looming cuts to Medicaid could spell disaster for the families who rely on it. GABE GUTIÉRREZ: For Alexia Flory, even just getting out of bed each morning… MICHELLE FLORY: All right. GUTIÉRREZ: …can be a struggle. MICHELLE FLORY: There you go. GUTIÉRREZ: The 33-year-old has cerebral palsy. MICHELLE FLORY: Down this side. GUTIÉRREZ: And requires her mom's constant attention. ALEXIA FLORY: It affects my muscles. It affects my leg muscles. GUTIÉRREZ: What is the hardest part of your day? ALEXIA FLORY:  The hardest part of my day is waiting for someone to help me get things done because there's so much I want to do that I can't do myself. GUTIÉRREZ: But for more than a decade, Alexia says she’s been thriving in the Baltimore suburbs, getting a college degree, and studying in a local seminary thanks to a Medicaid program that helps pay for two aides. HOME AIDE: Doing a great job, Lex. ALEXIA FLORY:  They are family in every sense of the word. MICHELLE FLORY: All right. What do you want for breakfast today? GUTIÉRREZ: And it also pays her parents- funding designed to keep people with disabilities out of institutions by allowing family members to care for them at home. But following a budget shortfall in Maryland, $126 million were slashed from these programs. Wages for family caregivers and external aides were set to be cut on the first of this month. But after NBC News began asking about the changes, at the last minute, the state postponed the cuts by up to 90 days. ALEXIA FLORY:  I lose my life if these services go away. AIDE: Let me put your hat on because it is hot out here. ALEXIA FLORY: My aides who are helping me do all of these things will go away because they need to find other jobs. GUTIÉRREZ: If all of the proposed cuts take effect, Alexia's parents say they could lose at least $60,000 per year, money that helps keep her living at home. What does that mean for your family? MICHELLE FLORY: Uh, it means that we’re going to have to tap into our 401. We’re going to have to either sell this home and get something smaller. GUTIÉRREZ: They say Alexia's overnight caregiving hours have already been denied. MICHELLE FLORY: I bite my fingers every single night. I just -- I get anxiety. I cry out to God. God, this has got to end. You know, she qualified for everything for five years straight and then this year she doesn't qualify for overnight services, but- but she’s still the same Lexi. GUTIÉRREZ: In a statement, Maryland's Department of Health said costs for these programs skyrocketed by 144% over the last five years, adding the state needed to avoid overspending or risk violating federal guidelines which could jeopardize all of its funding. Alexia feels she and people like her are being unfairly sacrificed to balance the state's budget. ALEXIA FLORY: People with disabilities are people too. We're- we’re not objects. We're people first. LLAMAS: You feel for that family, Gabe. The focus of your story is Maryland, but the issue is much bigger than that? GUTIÉRREZ: Yes, Tom. Disability advocates say with President Trump's so-called “One, Big Beautiful Bill” set to slash Medicaid funding by about a trillion dollars over the next decade, this could soon be an issue facing people with disabilities nationwide. Tom. LLAMAS: All right, Gabe. We thank you.