Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) administrator Dr. Oz said his agency has rooted out tens of millions of dollars in fraud.
The White House has taken several actions to prevent fraudsters from stealing taxpayer money through government programs.
During an appearance on Fox News, Oz discussed his agency’s efforts to stop fraud.
“They're not just stealing your money, they're stealing your health, because they don't care about stealing from poor people,” he said. “They'll take your health away. And they're stealing the nation's trust. Medicare and Medicaid were created in a high-trust environment. We assumed people would do the right things. We now are experiencing about $100 billion of theft a year, much of it because of the COVID pandemic's impact on teaching criminals to move into healthcare.”
The CMS administrator further explained that “if we could just take the fraud out of Medicare, we would double the life expectancy of the Medicare trust fund.”
So what has to happen? We already stopped $42 billion. Kim Brandt, who leads this program at Medicare, has already taken $42 billion just by not shipping the money out of the building. So number one issue is don't let the criminals get the money from you. Number 2, an all-of-government approach to get it back. You know, we've been working closely with Scott Bessant. Big announcements that he'll make this week about how effective that has been.
Dr. Oz further explained how foreign governments have been involved in defrauding federal agencies. “Here in New York City, you go to Queens, there's a massive fraud scheme with social adult daycare where they're basically paying seniors to play mahjong, and literally, and you've got the Chinese mafia actively involved in that,” he said.
And they're also running human trafficking because once they get a cash cow, like selling, you know, membership, club memberships to seniors where they basically get their Medicare beneficiary number, which millions have been stolen now, and just charge the government as though they're legitimate bills. So this has to be shut down, and it is. We're going after it in a big way. In California, we've got a third of all hospices in the whole country.
🚨 BREAKING: Dr. Oz just announced he has been closely cracking down on billions in fraud with Treasury Sec. SCOTT BESSENT, and that Bessent will issue an announcement soon
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) September 8, 2026
Bessent is FIRING ON ALL CYLINDERS!
OZ: "We already stopped $42 billion [in fraud]." 🤯
"An… pic.twitter.com/BJkzmk1MJW
Dr. Oz has made fraud a central part of his agenda as CMS administrator. The agency deferred $259.5 million in federal Medicaid funds to Minnesota while it reviews fraudulent claims, according to a press release.
Wheelchairs that never existed, phony companies, stolen Medicare numbers…Those days are over!
— Dr. Oz CMS (@DrOzCMS) September 1, 2026
We’re strengthening safeguards for medical equipment suppliers to stop scammers BEFORE taxpayer dollars go out the door—while protecting access for Medicare beneficiaries who rely on… pic.twitter.com/R4peLaJxxx
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said, “For decades, Medicare fraud has drained billions from American taxpayers—that ends now.”
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