Fighting fraud

This week, Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., rehashed political frustration over last year’s reports on fraud in Minnesota. “They had an open bar for Medicaid,” he said in a radio interview he posted on social media Tuesday.

A Manhattan Institute report last November claimed that Somali residents in Minnesota had defrauded state welfare programs, sending millions of dollars to an al-Qaeda affiliate in Somalia. The report fueled efforts already underway to address government waste and benefit misuse.

This week, the U.S. House of Representatives advanced a series of fraud prevention bills—legislation that flew under the radar amidst headlines focused on state primaries and Immigration and Customs Enforcement funding. The 12 bills, which now await consideration in the Senate, emphasize surveillance and establish training, audits, and accountability for federally funded programs. The legislation follows President Donald Trump’s crusade against fraud, but the measures face inconsistent bipartisan support, even as some experts urge increased inspection and oversight.

Congress’ move follows months of White House crackdown, including the creation in March of the Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, chaired by Vice President J.D. Vance. In May, the U.S. Department of Justice reported criminal charges against 15 defendants in Minnesota, charging various Medicaid providers and owners of childcare centers for their alleged participation in fraud schemes totalling over $90 million in planned losses.

Also last month, the nonpartisan nonprofit Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget found that the federal government made roughly $186 billion of improper payments in fiscal year 2025. The nonprofit blamed the losses on fraud, governmental or recipient mistake, and improper documentation. Over half of the total improper payments come from healthcare programs, the group said.

David Maimon, head of fraud insights at the fraud protection software developer SentiLink and a criminology professor at Georgia State University, spends a lot of time identifying scam companies. “We’re seeing many companies essentially stealing identities of citizens and then using those identities to charge the government, charge Medicare and Medicaid, with all kinds of expenses,” he said.

Following passage of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act in July 2025, healthcare fraud has become a particularly partisan flash point. The act targeted waste, fraud, and abuse in Medicaid and Medicare and established stricter eligibility requirements, which the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimated would result in 7.8 million people losing health insurance. It would also reduce Medicaid spending by $125.2 billion in 2034, according to the office.

“Medicare is a high-risk program,” said Robert Moffit, a senior research fellow at the Heritage Foundation and former public health official for the Reagan administration. “The payment system is very complex and beneficiaries are oftentimes the victims … because money that is supposed to be going to legitimate people is being drained off by criminals.”

Moffit said he’s never seen anything like the current administration's anti-fraud agenda, calling Trump’s mission a “domestic holy war against waste, fraud, and abuse.” He said that, up until this point, Congress has held a secondary role in the fight, and he applauded this week’s bills.

“We have an enormous chance in front of us,” Moffit said, adding that lawmakers on both sides of the aisle should be committed to providing lawful access to welfare programs. “There are people who need help, and that’s why these programs exist. … Fraudsters not only attack the taxpayers, they attack the people who are most vulnerable and who are dependent upon these programs.”

The House seems to be taking up the torch. At the U.S. Capitol on Tuesday, House Republican Conference Chair Lisa McClain, R-Mich., showed the press a headshot of a recently obtained Medicare scammer. “Super nice guy here,” McClain gibed.

The scammer, Paul Randall, a 66-year-old Californian, pleaded guilty in April to submitting nearly $270 million in fraudulent claims to Medi-Cal. The Department of Justice announced the plea in April, detailing Randall’s 11-month scam. “These are the guys that the Democrats are protecting,” McClain added.

When asked if targeting fraud in federal programs like Medicaid is a partisan issue, Rep. John Larson, D-Conn., adamantly disagreed.

“I think it’s an American issue,” Larson told me on Wednesday. “Because Medicaid and Medicare and Social Security don’t target Democrats [or] Republicans, it helps all Americans. That’s why these programs are so beloved, that’s why they’re so vital.”

Later that day, a release by Larson’s office included a comment from House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., saying, “Republicans cannot be trusted to protect Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. Their One Big Ugly Bill already enacted the largest cut to Medicaid in American history and jeopardized the solvency of the Social Security trust fund.”

Despite opposing ideals, seven of the 12 anti-fraud bills passed this week boasted bipartisan sponsors, signaling a cooperative interest in cracking down on fraud.

“I think everyone can agree that there should be less fraud. I don’t think there’s a party out there that would say, no, there needs to be more fraud,” said Chelsea Binns, a fraud expert and associate professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York City. “And that’s kind of what’s great about this issue is that it is one that should be less divisive.”

Binns said fraud is inevitable in payment assistance programs and that no law can fully stamp it out. But she praised the recent bills as a strong step in the right direction. She added that two ideals will likely test any bipartisan cooperation: the demand for urgency and the call to be slow and careful.

Maimon, the SentiLink Head of Fraud Insights and criminology professor, also applauded this week’s bills. “I would like to see more of it … in order to make sure that our money is protected,” he said. “At the end of the day, it’s all our money.”