The Trump administration, led by Vice President JD Vance and CMS Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz, announced a crackdown on Medicaid fraud, withholding nearly $260 million in funds from Minnesota. This initiative, part of the newly declared 'war on fraud,' aims to address concerns over fraudulent activities within the healthcare system.
by CORY SMITH | The National News DeskVice President JD Vance listens as Administrator for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Mehmet Oz speaks during an announcement that Medicare funding would be withheld from Minnesota as part of a fraud crackdown Feb.
25, 2026, in Washington. The Trump administration fired the opening salvo in its newly declared “war on fraud” when Vice President JD Vance and Dr. Mehmet Oz, the administrator for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, announced nearly $260 million in Medicaid funds would be withheld from Minnesota.It was during the State of the Union speech that Trump announced the so-called war on fraud that he said would be led by Vance. The next day, Vance and Oz told reporters that the administration would temporarily halt Medicaid funding for Minnesota as part of a more aggressive crackdown on fraud. “There are way too many Americans who are being defrauded by very bad actors in our society, people who take the goodwill and the trust of the American taxpayer, and they decide to use it against us,” Vance said. “They decide to make themselves rich instead of allowing these programs that are set up to make it easier for people to take care of their families, to make it easier for autistic kids to get the afterschool services they need, to make it easier for people to get the health care that they need. And we are going to start, very aggressively the administration, cracking down on the people and the organizations that are defrauding Americans.” Vance said Medicaid providers in Minnesota have been paid by the state, but the federal reimbursement would be withheld until the administration determined the state had a handle on the fraud and was being a good steward of taxpayer dollars. Oz said they believe the government is spending $300 billion a year on health care that flows to fraudulent, abusive or wasteful purposes. Dr. Mehmet Oz, the administrator for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, talks about the administration’s efforts to fight fraud during an interview with The National News Desk Correspondent Kristine Frazao on Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2026. Oz said Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz has 60 days to respond to the administration’s demands, but he said the administration doesn’t expect Minnesotans to be hurt in the meantime by the stoppage of federal funds. “This is not a problem with the people of Minnesota,” Oz said at the news conference. “It's a problem with the leadership of Minnesota and other states who do not take Medicaid preservation seriously.” Oz also spoke Wednesday with The National News Desk Correspondent Kristine Frazao, telling her Medicare and Medicaid fraud have gotten bad because the programs are massive targets. “We have $2 trillion, roughly, that we deploy on behalf of the American taxpayers,” Oz said. “If you can get a beneficiary number or a doctor's identification number, you can defraud the system. If you get a lot of them, you can defraud in a very big way. And foreign countries, at least citizens of foreign countries, have been very involved in weaponizing the process.”He also said the government needs tougher criminal penalties to dissuade fraudsters. “If I steal $5 million from you in Medicaid, it's maybe a year, year and a half in jail. I rob a bank for $10,000, I'm in the slammer for a long time,” he said. “So, we need more serious penalties.” Oz said the fraud threatens to destroy the infrastructure of vital social safety net programs. And he said it threatens the nation’s most vulnerable people.And Walz said Minnesota's Medicaid error rates are about 2.1%, compared to the national average of 6.4%. Walz said state officials are already working with the administration to stamp out fraud, and he said they believe they’ve already met their criteria for an improvement plan demanded by the federal government. “Republicans need to be very clear. Do you want to fix it, or do you want to talk about it?” Walz said at the news conference. “Because it appears to me right now is that they fear fixing this, because it takes away what they think is a political leverage. And that is simply wrong for Minnesotans. I've already told you we're taking accountability. We're seeing the fixes. The results are starting to show themselves.”Mark Jones , a political science fellow at Rice University's Baker Institute, said the administration’s war on fraud combines several political narratives that might play to Republicans’ favor heading into this fall’s midterm elections. Jones said the effort highlights big government, taxpayer-funded programs allegedly benefiting immigrants, and fraud allegedly caused by a lack of government oversight by Democratic officials. Withholding Medicaid funding is a tool for the federal government to get a state, in this case Minnesota, to take some kind of desired action, Jones said. “The federal government does have the carrot or stick, depending on how you look at it, of Medicaid funding,” he said., the director of the School of Media and Public Affairs at George Washington University, said withholding Medicaid funding isn’t the right way to fight fraud. “The way you fight fraud is find people who are committing the fraud and punish them. ... Punishing the Democratic governor of a state doesn't persuade people committing fraud to do anything,” Loge said. Loge also said that withholding the money from Minnesota looks like politically targeted enforcement against a blue state when fraud is happening in red states, too.“Treat Texas the same way you treated Minnesota,” Loge said. “If you don't, you're telling people this is about politics, not fraud.”“Well, no, but that doesn't mean they shouldn't wage it,” Loge said. Defrauding government social safety net programs is a serious crime that harms a lot of people, he said. And going after the perpetrators is a worthy effort, he said. Jones said the war on crime might send the right message for the administration, or at least a politically effective one, even if the war itself can’t be won.“I don't think this is something that the administration is going to be able to win, because fraud is so deep-rooted and it's very difficult to thread the needle of preventing fraud, but also not denying eligible people benefits,” Jones said.U.S. Sen. Bernie Moreno took to the Senate floor on Wednesday to request unanimous consent for his bill -- one that would levy large fines against publAbout 6,000 pigs killed after fire engulfs Madison County farm A massive fire tore through a farm in Madison County, drawing a large multi-agency response and leaving the property appearing to be a total loss.A man also charged in two California homicides was sentenced to over 60 years in prison for multiple rapes charges in West Jefferson.A former daycare worker accused of abusing children at a Pataskala child care center is changing her plea and will take a plea deal, according to new court fili
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