Vance expands Medicaid fraud push to Ohio, GOP scrambles ahead of election

Vance directs anti-fraud task force at Ohio as Ramaswamy turns to Medicaid

Vice President JD Vance on May 19 said he was extending his administration’s Medicaid fraud crackdown to Ohio, a move that immediately reshaped the Republican political picture in his home state. The decision came a day before Vivek Ramaswamy won Ohio’s May 5 Republican gubernatorial primary, and it followed a conservative investigation that highlighted alleged abuses in Ohio’s Medicaid-funded home health program.

Vance’s announcement, made via a May 19 post on X, said he was directing the anti-fraud task force he leads for President Donald Trump to focus on the Buckeye State. The AP reported that the same day included the findings of the Daily Wire investigation into Ohio’s Medicaid home health program, which added urgency to the emerging political fight over how fraud should be addressed.

Republicans scrambled over how to align with the national crackdown while defending their record in state oversight. The AP reported that Vance’s earlier high-profile sanctions and messaging had largely targeted Democratic-led states, including Minnesota, California and Maine, even as he said some Republican states—such as Florida—had also been cited.

Ramaswamy seized the moment shortly after his primary win, presenting Medicaid fraud as a central issue for the general election campaign. At a news conference, Ramaswamy said the fight against Medicaid fraud was his “absolute top priority,” and his plan framed “crush[ing]” Medicaid waste, fraud and abuse as part of reducing healthcare costs.

Ramaswamy’s “top priority” pledge includes possible Medicare-Medicaid renegotiation

Ramaswamy said his plan would include renegotiating Ohio’s deal with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to improve the state’s fraud-fighting incentives and streamline the program’s bureaucracy. The campaign estimates the new arrangement would save $3.1 billion, modeled on a Tennessee waiver negotiated during the first Trump administration, with the savings directed back toward healthcare.

At the same time, Ramaswamy’s messaging focused on what he characterized as past failures by Ohio’s Department of Medicaid. The AP reported that he and other Republican officials pointed to the Department of Medicaid’s oversight during years when Gov. Mike DeWine oversaw the program.

When asked how much accountability should fall on the Republican establishment that has controlled government for more than 15 years, Ramaswamy said he would not point fingers. “I’m not playing that game, OK?” he said, adding that he sought a “fresh approach” and described his candidacy as “a bottom-up movement and a demand for change.”

House Republicans create new task force; Ohio allegations become first target

Within days of Vance’s Ohio move and after Ramaswamy’s shift toward the issue, U.S. House Republicans created a new Task Force on Defending Constitutional Rights and Exposing Institutional Abuses. The AP reported that the task force’s first target would be the fraud allegations in Ohio’s Medicaid-funded home health program.

The move highlighted a broader campaign strategy by Republicans who argue that national anti-fraud enforcement protects taxpayers. The AP reported that Trump administration messaging framed the effort as safeguarding taxpayers under economic pressure, with several state-level Republicans and candidates following the lead.

At the same time, the AP also noted that some economic stresses faced by healthcare providers could be tied to federal actions. It cited new Medicaid work requirements passed by Congress as expected to strain hospitals and result in millions of enrollees losing coverage.

Oversight panel eliminated under McColley; former committee members point to what changed

The AP reported that Ramaswamy’s running mate, Ohio Senate President Rob McColley, had been central to a budget decision that last year eliminated Ohio’s Joint Medicaid Oversight Committee. The committee, created to watch over Medicaid, had been investigating contracts with Gainwell, described by the AP as the nation’s largest processor of Medicaid claims.

State Rep. Jennifer Gross, a Republican who served on the committee, told reporters that retaining the JMOC could have supported fraud-fighting goals. “I believe that if we had kept JMOC it always could have been something that we kept in place that could have morphed into a DOGE Ohio, an Ohio Medicaid DOGE,” she said.

Gross’s comments placed the spotlight on how Ohio’s oversight functions changed, even as Republicans argued that fraud work had continued through other channels.

DeWine disputes the criticism and cites prosecutions, convictions and recoveries

Gov. DeWine responded to criticism with new initiatives announced May 13, including pausing new enrollments in the home health program that had been cited by the Daily Wire. The AP reported that DeWine defended what he described as Ohio’s existing enforcement efforts even before the new allegations became a national political focus.

DeWine’s spokesman, Dan Tierney, said Tuesday that a “general sentiment” that Ohio had not been working to combat or prosecute Medicaid fraud before the Daily Wire stories was “just not true.” “There may be people who were unaware of Medicaid fraud prior to that, but Mike DeWine was not one of them,” Tierney said.

Tierney said Ohio’s record included 2,300 indictments, 2,200 convictions and $644 million recovered since 2011, and he said Ohio ranked among the top states for prosecuting Medicaid fraud. The AP reported Tierney also said DeWine broke records for Medicaid fraud convictions multiple times as Ohio attorney general, and that Republican Dave Yost broke those records again after succeeding DeWine.

Republicans say fraud findings weren’t a surprise; Democratic challenger calls plan “scam policies”

Republican Ohio Auditor Keith Faber, who is running for attorney general in 2026, said Tuesday that the Medicaid fraud Ramaswamy highlighted was not a surprise to state officials. The AP reported that Faber said his office brought findings to DeWine’s previous Medicaid director, Maureen Corcoran, after which she stepped down in September after more than six years.

The AP reported that public records obtained through a request showed Corcoran was fighting the oversight committee shortly before it was disbanded, in a dispute involving access to fiscal experts critical to Ohio’s budgeting process, and that those inquiries ended when the committee was later eliminated.

On the Democratic side, Amy Acton’s campaign accused Ramaswamy of rolling out “scam policies.” Acton’s campaign spokeswoman, Addie Bullock, said in a statement that Acton would prioritize rooting out Medicaid fraud, waste, and abuse while ensuring Ohioans could access affordable, quality healthcare. Bullock also said Acton would fight to lower healthcare costs, protect Medicaid and Medicare access, and end “rampant corruption in Ohio’s Statehouse.”