#297 Nick Shirley - Inside California’s $222 Billion Medi-Cal Crisis
Quotes & Clips
5 clipsCalifornia faces massive Medi-Cal spending fraud
“California fraud is so massive, and there's so many different things to look at. When you look at the fraud that's taking place in California, you have Medi-Cal fraud, which is their Medicaid. And for instance, in 2022, they had $108 billion go towards Medi-Cal.”
California lacks essential voter ID requirements
“I really just want to show people how easy it is to vote in an election here inside the United States, in a place that does not require voter ID. California is the biggest state in the country, and they're one of the states that won't require voter ID.”
New federal taskforce addresses widespread government fraud
“They actually just opened up a new task force where a bunch of departments of the government are now going to be talking together. If they see an issue at Treasury and they see an issue at another department where they weren't communicating, now they're going to communicate. I think we will start to see prosecutions ramp up.”
Hospice and daycare fraud plague California systems
“After Minnesota, I was like, okay, let me focus on something different, but let me still focus on fraud. So I focused on election fraud in California, and then a few weeks later, I then did go after the hospice fraud. And that was bad.”
Medi-Cal budget doubled without enrollment growth
“In 2022, they had $108 billion go towards Medi-Cal and their enrollments at the time was 39.9 million. The proposed budget for Medi-Cal is now $222 billion, and their enrollments 40 million. So they've over doubled it for 100,000 people.”
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Episode Description
Nick Shirley is an American independent journalist, YouTuber, and content creator known for on-the-ground investigative reporting and street interviews. He initially gained attention as a teenager producing prank and shock-style content, including a 2019 video documenting a solo trip to New York at age 16. He later transitioned into political and cultural journalism, focusing on protests, immigration issues, and government accountability. Originally from Utah, Shirley has built a digital audience of over 1 million YouTube subscribers and hundreds of millions of views across platforms. His reporting style is direct and minimalist, often conducted in real-time and on location. In December 2025, Shirley drew national attention with a viral investigation into alleged fraud in Minnesota’s government-funded childcare programs, claiming over $100 million in misused funds. The video amassed more than 100 million views on X and contributed to increased public scrutiny, including comments from the FBI. His latest episode builds on this work, focusing on alleged fraud and misuse of government funds in California, continuing his broader investigative coverage of public spending and institutional accountability. Shirley’s content often aligns with conservative perspectives while emphasizing transparency and oversight. Shawn Ryan Show Sponsors: Our listeners get the Harry’s Plus Trial Set for only $10 at https://www.Harrys.com/srs #Harryspod Sign up for your $1 per month trial today at https://shopify.com/srs Go to https://meetfabric.com/SHAWN and apply today, risk-free. No description text or call to action is provided in the attachment. Nick Shirley Links: YT - youtube.com/@nickshirley IG - https://www.instagram.com/nickshirley X - https://x.com/nickshirleyy Podcast - https://open.spotify.com/show/4fm9G0i6lyDZ3XE5fz3Lb9 Hoodie - https://shirleydefense.com/collections/all Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices