Vice President JD Vance and Dr. Mehmet Oz, the administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, announced that the Trump administration will temporarily pause some Medicaid funds to Minnesota due to fraud concerns.
We’re announcing today that we have decided to temporarily halt certain amounts of Medicaid funding that are going to the state of Minnesota in order to ensure that the state of Minnesota takes its obligation seriously to be good stewards of the American people’s tax money.Now what is this going to mean? What this means is that, first of all, the providers on the ground in Minnesota have actually already been paid. The state has paid those providers the money.What we’re doing is we are stopping the federal payments that will go to the state government until the state government takes its obligations seriously to stop the fraud that’s being perpetrated against the American taxpayer.
The accusations of Medicaid fraud began in November 2025, opening a chest of possible fraud in Minnesota in other areas.
One prosecutor believes Medicaid fraud could top $9 billion within 14 services in Minnesota.
First Assistant U.S. Attorney Joe Thompson also said the “fraud in Minnesota outpaces that of other states.”
Dr. Oz provided more details:
I’m proud to announce the largest the largest fraud initiative, anti fraud effort of its kind in CMS history.Now why is this action necessary? Last night in the State of the Union Address, the President spoke about the affordability issues that we have improved dramatically in this administration. But let’s put some numbers on health care.The average family puts about $27,000 into health care a year. They only pay $7,000 themselves, which is a lot, but there’s an extra $20,000 invested for them. This is not a reasonable amount of money to spend. We have got to bend that curve downwards. It’s unpredictable, as well, when you have to make these expenses. And the fraud that we’re experiencing in America is making this already dangerous problem much worse.So we’re going to fix these issues. The President last night spoke about the need for price transparency. That’s going to help by making people more aware of what they’re paying. It’s also going to help us at CMS figure out what you should be paying and identifying fraud.To that note, the President announced last night that he’s appointing our vice president to lead the war on health care fraud, a wise choice. Your passion for this will make a huge difference.This is not about the money by itself. This is about people’s lives and our culture, our shared values that have allowed these beautiful programs, Medicare, Medicaid, to survive brilliantly for 60 years.We believe, listen carefully, we are spending $300 billion a year in health care in this country for fraudulent, abusive, or wasteful purposes.$300 billion. Let’s put that in perspective. If we could reduce fraud by 5%, which is that $300 billion, we would take the trust fund that’s going to take care of all of us as we get older, and we would allow it not to expire in five to six years. We would double its life expectancy. That’s massively important if you’re going to trust the social safety net to be there for you. You deserve that social safety net. It’s there. It’s created. We’re not going to let fraudsters steal it from you.
Oz also detailed some of the fraud discovered during the investigations.
“There is a fraud scheme in Minnesota where criminals, soon to be criminals, pay moms $1,000 roughly, in order to enroll their children as being autistic, falsely, dishonestly claiming their children are autistic,” said Oz. “They then bill Medicaid. It has already happened, millions of dollars for services that were never rendered, never delivered by a qualified staff member.”
Yes, they’re depriving children with autism of the help they need.
“There’s one Behavioral Health Organization, Mr. Vice President in Minnesota, where they received, delivering a half million dollars in Medicaid payments,” continued Oz. “But the top Biller, the top biller submitted 450 days where they claim they’re working more than 24 hours a day.”
How does someone work more than 24 hours a day?
“The kid pays the price for the rest of their life,” added Oz.
Oz said that the administration has given Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz 60 days to respond.
Oz also warned that the administration will release information about fraud in other states:
We did what any honest and patient focused agency would do. We have notified the state and that we will give them the money, but we’re going to hold it and only release it after they propose an act on a comprehensive corrective action plan to solve the problem.If Minnesota fails to clean up the systems, the state will rack up a billion dollars of deferred payments this year. Governor Walz has 60 days, 60 days, sir, to respond to our letter.And if providers and beneficiaries are worried about getting their money and services, please call your governor. These are services the governor has already paid for. We are just not reimbursing the state.To make it clear, there is a rainy day fund in Minnesota, so we are very confident that people will not be hurt in Minnesota. This is not a problem with the people of Minnesota. It’s a problem with the leadership of Minnesota and other states who do not take Medicaid preservation seriously.Any delay in services is going to be laid at the seat of Governor Walz. I believe he will take this seriously. They’re not the only state that’s floundering. We have more announcements with other states coming soon.
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