Vice President JD Vance said the administration’s anti-fraud task force has identified $230 billion in suspected fraud, stopped $56 billion from being paid and initiated 17 additional enforcement actions worth roughly $333 million.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
Vice President JD Vance announced Friday that a federal task force created to uncover fraud across government benefit programs has already prevented $56 billion in payments after identifying an estimated $230 billion in suspected fraudulent activity.
Speaking during a televised Cabinet meeting, Vance said the Task Force to Eliminate Fraud has concentrated on stopping federal money before it is distributed because recovering funds after payment can be considerably more difficult.
“Just since the beginning of the fraud task force that I started under the president’s leadership and direction, we have identified $230 billion dollars of fraud that’s being perpetrated against the American people, and we have halted already $56 billion dollars of that,” Vance said.
“It’s sometimes hard once the money has already gone out the door; it’s hard to get it back. But stopping it from going out the door is how we save the American people $56 billion. Of course, we’re going to keep on working on that.”
Vance also announced 17 “new anti-fraud actions that will total about a third of a billion dollars.”
The administration established the task force in early 2026 to investigate waste and fraud throughout federal welfare programs. Its formation followed several prominent fraud scandals in Minnesota, where the initiative initially focused its investigative work before expanding nationwide.
The effort has since turned greater attention toward alleged abuse of Medicaid and other public assistance programs in New York.
Dr. Mehmet Oz, the federal official overseeing Medicaid, said New York spends approximately $110 billion annually on medical costs and described fraud within the system as extensive and increasingly connected to organized criminal activity.
“Social safety net programs are being defrauded. They’re being hurt oftentimes by foreign governments or foreign-run criminal syndicate organizations,” Oz said.
Oz traveled to New York to investigate more than 60 adult-care centers accused of improperly obtaining millions of dollars in federal funds. Independent journalist Nick Shirley, who has investigated organized benefit fraud around the country, joined him during the visit. Shirley’s previous reporting has included alleged fraud involving members of Minnesota’s Somali community.
The New York facilities primarily serve elderly Chinese and Korean residents and have submitted substantial Medicaid bills, many of which investigators suspect could be fraudulent.
“Normally, the government doesn’t pay for it. In New York, they’ve created a mechanism to pay for these programs,” Oz said.
“These are run, we believe, under the auspices of the Chinese organized criminal groups that are also doing human trafficking in the East Coast.”
Oz said operators allegedly obtain access to seniors’ Medicaid and Medicare information by offering them bribes, then use their beneficiary numbers to bill the government for products, appointments and services that were never provided.
“There are a dozen pharmacies on one block. Why? They’re all fake. They’re taking these Medicare beneficiary numbers and manufacturing huge businesses to fund illegal activities,” Oz said.
“They pretend they’re sending this really expensive wheelchair [to a patient. They pretend that they’re sending expensive random medications. They’re doing appointments they [patients] never go to. Tests they never get. Treatments they don’t receive or don’t need.
“And they begin to bankrupt all the legitimate people, because they make so much money … These programs have generated $2.1 billion against New York Medicaid.”
Oz argued that the scale and structure of the alleged fraud indicate a systemic problem rather than an isolated weakness. He described it not as a “flaw” but as a “feature” of New York’s system, alleging that state policies permit personal-care workers to unionize and generate political contributions benefiting Democratic politicians.
“Fraud is rising because government wants it to exist,” Oz said.
The task force’s work now combines efforts to stop future payments, investigate organizations accused of submitting fraudulent claims and identify criminal networks that officials say are exploiting federal welfare and health care programs. Vance said the administration intends to continue expanding those efforts after blocking the initial $56 billion.
Original article
Comments