Vice President J.D. Vance said Wednesday that his fraud task force is cracking down on California.
“The federal government is deferring $1.3 billion in Medicaid reimbursements from the state of California. And the simple reason is because the state of California has not taken fraud very seriously,” Vance said in a video posted to X.
VP Vance announces deferment of $1.3B in Medicaid reimbursement to California in fraud crackdown: “California has not taken fraud very seriously…There are California taxpayers and American taxpayers who are being defrauded because California isn’t taking its program seriously.” pic.twitter.com/E6hCMx3fC2
— CSPAN (@cspan) May 13, 2026
“There are California taxpayers and American taxpayers who are being defrauded because California isn’t taking its program seriously,” Vance said.
“But also you have people who have been prescribed medications that they don’t even need. Sometimes they’ve had drugs put into their bodies that they don’t need because fraudsters have actually encouraged false prescriptions and false administration of medication,” he continued.
Vance said that “fraudulent healthcare providers are getting rich by giving people medications they don’t even need.”
“It’s a defrauding of the American taxpayer, but it’s a violation of the trust that should exist between every American and the people who prescribe them medications,” he added.
Vance said funding to the state Medicaid Fraud Control Units could be frozen “if they do not aggressively prosecute Medicaid fraud,” according to NBC News.
“And if we continue to find problems, we can turn off other resources within their state Medicaid programs as well,” he said.
“Now, we have red states and blue states that go after fraud aggressively. But we also unfortunately have some states — mostly blue states, unfortunately — that do not take Medicaid fraud very seriously,” he said.
A representative for Vance said that “the Vice President’s task force is taking all steps necessary to ensure that American taxpayer dollars don’t make it into the hands of fraudsters,” per the New York Post.
As noted by Politico, California has already paid providers, such that the decision announced Wednesday means the federal government will not pay $1.3 billion in California’s claims for federal reimbursement until the state proves patients actually received the services covered by those bills.
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Mehmet Oz said hospice fraud is likewise rampant in California.
“There aren’t that many people dying in Los Angeles,” he said. “We believe half of the hospices in the entire area around Los Angeles are fraudulent.”
OJ Oleka, CEO of the State Financial Officers Foundation, said states and the federal government need to join forces to fight fraud, according to The Center Square.
“Real accountability with real teeth is indispensable for winning the war on fraud, protecting its victims, and getting reluctant states off the fence and into this fight,” Oleka said. “It is encouraging and empowering to know that Vice President Vance and his task force are looking to the states to be proactive partners.”
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