JD Vance spearheads federal fraud crackdown, Maine lenders suspended
On May 13, 2026 the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services announced a six‑month pause on new Medicare enrollment for hospices and home‑health agencies, saying it had uncovered “systemic and deeply troubling fraud” that threatens vulnerable patients and taxpayer dollars. Vice President JD Vance’s anti‑fraud task force is working with CMS; the administration has already withheld $1.4 billion in federal funding from providers suspected of fraud, and CMS Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz warned, “We’ve seen systemic and deeply troubling fraud in the hospice and home‑health space….”
A day after Vance’s rally in Maine, where he accused Governor Janet Mills of ignoring welfare fraud, Small Business Administration Administrator Kelly Loeffler announced the suspension of about 1,500 Maine borrowers tied to roughly $93 million in potentially fraudulent PPP and EIDL loans. “The crackdown is here,” Loeffler said, noting the action aligns with similar suspensions in California and Minnesota as part of the broader federal anti‑fraud campaign.