Opinion

Trump tries to cut blue-state Medicaid fraud and save more green

States now required to develop stronger plans to review all their Medicaid providers

By Tarren Bragdon Fox News

Published May 15, 2026 7:00am EDT

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Former Jill Biden spokesman says Democrats ‘especially’ should be focused on fighting Medicare, Medicaid fraud

Former Jill Biden spokesman Michael LaRossa and podcast host Emily Austin discuss the Trump administration’s crackdown on alleged Medicare and Medicaid fraud on ‘America Reports.’

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Just how bad is Medicaid fraud? Six months ago, Minnesota dominated the news for losing an estimated $9 billion to thieves since 2018. Yet now the federal government is saying that medical providers are likely fraudulently billing about $100 billion every year. The good news is that the Trump administration is now fighting to close what is likely one of the biggest loopholes behind this unprecedented theft of taxpayer money.

On April 21, the administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services — Dr. Mehmet Oz — announced that his agency will require states to develop stronger plans to review their Medicaid providers. Nationwide, there are millions of such providers, and by law, states must revalidate their enrollment in the program at least every five years.

Through this process, states check providers’ medical licenses and confirm their compliance with all relevant state and federal laws. Revalidation is expressly designed to prevent fraudsters from cheating taxpayers. 

But states are failing this basic job. My organization has........

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