Dr. Mehmet Oz told reporters and other officials that the Trump administration will broaden its anti-fraud enforcement in federal health programs by requiring every state to lay out how it will revalidate certain Medicaid providers. Speaking Tuesday, Oz said the federal government would ask states to respond within a set timeframe and tie those submissions to what the administration described as seriousness about tackling waste, fraud and abuse.
In remarks tied to a Politico health care summit, Oz said the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator plans to ask states to “own” the problem by sharing their strategies within 30 days. Oz characterized the effort as a test of whether states are acting with enough urgency, saying the administration could respond by pursuing audits in states “more aggressively” if states do not comply.
Oz’s comments came as the administration’s Medicaid and Medicare enforcement campaign has, to date, focused more narrowly on selected states and provider types, rather than taking a uniform approach nationwide. The federal government has said it is targeting health care fraud and abuse across federal programs that receive Medicaid and Medicare funding, including actions that involve provider investigations and payment and enrollment restrictions.
The AP reported earlier that CMS made a significant error in figures used to help justify a fraud probe in New York, an acknowledgment that the report said deepened doubts about the administration’s methods. Oz did not elaborate on any specifics of the new national request, but he said states’ revalidation strategies would focus on “high risk areas,” without defining what those areas would be.
Beyond New York, CMS has approached at least four other states with investigations into potential health care fraud, the AP reported, including actions in Minnesota. The AP said CMS halted some $243 million in Medicaid payments to Minnesota over fraud concerns, and it reported that Minnesota sued CMS in February in an attempt to stop the withholding while the case remains ongoing.
Separately, the AP reported that CMS has blocked for six months any new Medicare enrollments for suppliers of durable medical equipment, prosthetics, orthotics and certain other supplies nationwide, and that federal officials made several arrests earlier this month related to alleged hospice fraud schemes in the Los Angeles area. Oz also said questions about whether the new audit request fits within a broader federal anti-fraud task force remain unresolved.
Last month, Trump signed an executive order creating an anti-fraud task force across federal benefit programs led by Vice President JD Vance. Oz told the AP that it was unclear whether Tuesday’s move is part of that effort, adding that he has been working closely with Vance on other investigations connected to the task force.
Asked whether federal efforts could eliminate, slow down or harm essential health care programs, Oz said he expects the opposite. He said Medicaid and Medicare are the “crown jewels” of the nation, and he told reporters: “I believe this audit and others like it will save the programs we care most about.”
Gov. Tim Walz, whose state has faced scrutiny from CMS in the Medicaid funding dispute, welcomed Oz’s announcement. Walz told reporters Tuesday that Minnesota had not received the request yet, but he said Minnesota was already moving ahead with the revalidation process and that it has made “significant improvements,” while also noting that CMS wrote last month that it had approved the state’s corrective action plan.
Oz said during the Politico interview that states would have an opportunity to demonstrate seriousness, and he also raised the prospect of escalating federal audits if states fail to respond appropriately. The AP reported that a CMS spokesperson said the agency was researching the AP’s inquiry when asked for details on the new audit.
The AP said Steve Karnowski in St. Paul, Minnesota, contributed to the report.