Several Milwaukee women have been busted in recent years for Medicaid fraud, demonstrating the problem isn't limited to Minnesota, California, or Ohio. In January, Precious Cruse was sentenced to 111 months in prison for stealing $780,000 from a Medicaid benefit meant to help pregnant women and women with young children. In March, Markita Barnes was sentenced to ten years for stealing $2.3 million from a similar Medicaid program.
Debbie Long, 44, is accused of submitting fraudulent claims for in-home medical care she never provided.
🚨Another Milwaukee fraud case: A woman defrauded Wisconsin Medicaid of nearly $2.2 million for in-home care she never provided, then bought two businesses and a Mercedes.
— Tom Tiffany (@TomTiffanyWI) May 7, 2026
But @GovEvers says everything is “just fine.”
As governor, I will allow audits and expose the truth.
“Widespread fraud against Wisconsin Medicaid,” is how Wisconsin Department of Justice investigators described the case in court documents.
Between March 2017 and August 2022, Long allegedly stole almost $2.2 million from Wisconsin Medicaid. Investigators also accuse her of taking out a fraudulent $219,000 low-interest pandemic-era loan from the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) under the guise of her in-home care business, Pinnacle Home Health Care LLC.
Court documents state Long used the stolen money to buy Kitt’s Custard at 70th and Capitol in 2020 and “helped launder the money that was used” to purchase a Mercedes-Benz and Milwaukee’s Octopus Car Wash.
According to WISN12, Long no longer owns Kitt's Custard and Long, and her husband no longer lives at the Milwaukee or Greenfield addresses listed in court documents. in a statement, Long's attorney said, "This complaint is a math exercise designed to reach a pre-determined conclusion. If you account for independent contractors and fix the State’s own clerical mistakes, the massive fraud allegations evaporate. Debbie Long remains a respected member of the Milwaukee community and looks forward to her day in court to clear her name."
As Rep. Tom Tiffany, who is running for Governor, pointed out, the current Democratic Governor Tony Evers has blocked the Trump administration's efforts to crackdown on Medicaid and SNAP fraud in Wisconsin.
Even after millions in SNAP and Medicaid fraud in Wisconsin over the past few months, Josh Kaul and @GovEvers still won’t allow audits of those programs.
— Tiffany War Room (@TiffanyWarRoom) May 7, 2026
Evers even vetoed four state auditor positions.
What are they hiding?https://t.co/HGAIjmvNcu
They ignore it because they support it.
Time to bring in @nickshirleyy and team to unearth the fraud https://t.co/Xe6SEg5Och
— Ronald Rump (@RumpRonald5372) May 7, 2026
That would be amazing.