Dr. Oz, Administrator for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), has put Tim Walz on notice. Walz, who is so deeply embroiled in his state's massive fraud scandal that he was forced to drop out of the Minnesota governor's race this week, is also facing a criminal probe by the DOJ and a Congressional hearing next month.
Now Oz is telling
🚨 Dr. Oz just TORCHED Tim Walz for failing to protect taxpayer dollars and abandoning the most vulnerable Minnesotans who rely on these services.
— Dustin Grage (@GrageDustin) January 7, 2026
Accountability is coming. pic.twitter.com/fTIKbLEO6q
"At CMS and HHS, we're increasingly worried about the deep rot within Minnesota's Medicaid and social services system, which are supposed to protect the most vulnerable Americans," Dr. Oz said.
"The more we uncover, the more it becomes clear: it's much worse than we were led to believe by state government officials. We'd previously learned that illegal immigrants were still getting care with allegedly state-only Medicaid programs that were actually using federal taxpayer funds," Oz said. "And, because of that, we already withheld $1.3 billion from California, Illinois, and yes, Minnesota, which always seems to show up on the list of states with the worst fraud, waste, and abuse."
"But this is only the tip of the iceberg," Oz continued. "We have an unfortunate announcement for the Walz administration. They have to admit they were warned. Last month, we instructed the Walz administration to produce a corrective action plan by the end of the year, which we received late New Year's Eve and found deeply insufficient."
"We don't want to hear, for example, that your state law doesn't allow you to protect federal taxpayers from Somali fraud. And we want a sense of urgency to fix this, as well as clear milestones to hold Minnesota accountable on progress," Oz said.
"Enough is enough. I just notified Governor Walz we will begin auditing Medicaid receipts and defer paying claims based on fraud, waste, and abuse. Until we can verify what is legitimate, we're going to defer payments for the 14 programs that the state itself identified as rife with fraud. That figure could be in the hundreds of millions of dollars," Oz noted.
"If the state cannot get a handle on this fraud, as we find more, we intend to withhold more payments moving forward," Oz said, "until the state cleans up its act. This ensures that Minnesotans who are truly in need and eligible for benefits can access Medicaid services. But the state's going to be forced to clean up its act and stop wasting taxpayer dollars. The state mismanaged its program, and federal taxpayers should not be held liable."
"We should note Governor Walz has a 'rainy day fund' with plenty of money to cover any real shortfalls in the unlikely event these actions affect beneficiaries directly," Oz added. "This, my friends, is about holding Governor Walz accountable and making him take the steps he should have taken years ago."
"This is just the beginning," Oz continued. "While there are 14 Medicaid programs that we know are high risk, we suspect from our team on the ground that there's a long road ahead to clean up the fraud."
"We want the people of Minnesota to know that this hardship was caused by a complete abdication of duties by the Walz administration, which your state leaders need to own and address immediately," Oz said. "Our duty is to provide the highest quality healthcare for the most vulnerable Americans, so we can't allow further theft of federal taxpayer money from 49 states to underwrite fraud in Minnesota."
Dr. Oz also sent a letter to Tim Walz. It read:
As has been widely reported—and as acknowledged by the State of Minnesota—there is significant and ongoing fraud within Minnesota’s Medicaid program. Investigations by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS OIG), the Department of Justice (DOJ), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and other federal partners have identified widespread fraud, waste, and abuse (FWA) in Minnesota Medicaid and repeated failures by the State to adequately address it.
These investigations have revealed schemes involving billing for services not rendered, services billed at levels not supported by documentation, and exploitation of vulnerable Medicaid beneficiaries for financial gain. Federal law enforcement has identified complex fraud schemes involving networks of providers operating across multiple high-risk service categories, including services delivered through Minnesota’s home- and community-based services system.
Recent investigations have focused on fourteen high-risk Medicaid services that the State itself has identified as particularly vulnerable to fraud. According to CMS’s analysis of Minnesota Medicaid data, these 14 programs consume $3.75 billion annually in federal and state taxpayer resources. CMS’s analysis of Minnesota Medicaid data shows extraordinary growth in provider enrollment and payments for several of these services that is inconsistent with beneficiary growth and service utilization trends. Despite warning signs that have been evident for years, the State has not implemented sufficient safeguards to prevent ongoing improper payments.
Accompanying this letter is a notification outlining steps CMS will be taking to safeguard taxpayer resources and protect vulnerable populations from Minnesota fraudsters. CMS is conducting a focused review of past CMS-64 quarterly receipts from the State and will defer funding based on findings of FWA, as well as initiating non-compliance withholding processes for future quarters. The full legal authority for these steps is outlined in the attached notification. In addition, CMS will continue to exercise strong oversight of State actions to address ongoing and widespread FWA.
This will require your leadership to address.
We'll see how Tim Walz responds. Based on his recent press conferences and statements, we don't expect it to go well.
Editor’s Note: Help us continue to report the truth about corrupt politicians like Tim Walz.
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