by Mary Hudetz

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Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs has signed legislation increasing oversight of sober living homes, two years after state officials announced that a Medicaid fraud scheme had targeted Native Americans seeking drug and alcohol treatment.

The bill, sponsored by three Republicans, amends state law for the regulation and licensing of sober living homes. It places new demands on the Arizona Department of Health Services, though a lawmaker from the Navajo Nation expressed concern that the bill does not go far enough in addressing root causes of the fraud.

Hobbs’ office announced late Friday that the bill, expected to take effect in the fall, was among dozens she had signed into law. The governor did not explain her decision to sign the legislation but she has been vocal in her support of reforms over the past two years to help authorities “go after bad actors.”

The legislation’s passage comes after ProPublica and the Arizona Center for Investigative Reporting reported in January that former state Medicaid officials had failed for years to stem the $2 billion fraud scheme, despite repeated........

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