Vice President JD Vance launches nationwide crackdown on Medicare and Medicaid fraud
Vice President JD Vance, heading the Trump administration’s anti‑fraud task force, announced a sweeping series of actions aimed at curbing waste, fraud and abuse in federal health‑care programs. The administration imposed a six‑month nationwide moratorium on new Medicare enrollments for home‑health and hospice providers, blocking any new agencies from receiving Medicare reimbursements. Simultaneously, it froze roughly $1.4 billion in federal payments to existing home‑health and hospice providers suspected of fraudulent billing, with about 90 % of those providers not responding to CMS inquiries.
In addition, Vance declared a $1.3 billion deferral of Medicaid reimbursements to California, citing “major red flags” in the state’s billing patterns, and warned that states failing to aggressively prosecute Medicaid fraud could lose billions in federal anti‑fraud funding. Letters were sent to all 50 states demanding proof of effective Medicaid fraud control, with California, Minnesota, New York, Hawaii and other Democratic‑led states singled out for non‑compliance.
The crackdown was highlighted during Vance’s visit to Bangor, Maine, where he promoted the task force’s work ahead of the state’s primary elections. The administration framed the effort as protecting both taxpayers and vulnerable program beneficiaries from fraudulent providers.