Vice President of the United States J.D. Vance announced that the Trump administration is temporarily halting certain Medicaid payments to the state of Minnesota as part of a broader crackdown on fraud involving federal taxpayer funds.
Speaking at a press event, Vance outlined the administration’s actions and said Dr. Mehmet Oz would provide additional details on enforcement steps being taken through the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).
“So let me say a couple things about what we’re announcing today, and then I’m going to kick over to Dr Oz, and then we’re going to take a few questions,” Vance said.
Vance said the administration is targeting what he described as widespread abuse of programs designed to help vulnerable Americans.
“So as a lot of you know, 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, 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 after school services they need, to make it easier for people to get the health care that they need,” Vance said. “And we are going to start very aggressively in the administration, cracking down on the people and the organizations that are defrauding Americans.”
He announced that federal Medicaid reimbursements to Minnesota would be paused until the state addresses the issue.
“So we’re announcing today that we have decided to temporary, temporarily halt certain amounts of Medicaid funding that are going to the state of Minnesota in order to ensure that the state of Minnesota takes its obligation seriously to be good stewards of the American people’s tax money,” Vance said.
Vance clarified that healthcare providers in Minnesota have already been paid by the state.
“Now what is this going to mean? What this means is that, first of all, the providers on the ground in Minnesota have actually already been paid. The state has paid those providers the money,” he said.
“What we’re doing is we are stopping the federal payments that will go to the state government until the state government takes its obligations seriously to stop the fraud that’s being perpetrated against the American taxpayer.”
According to Vance, one example of fraud involved a program intended to provide after-school services for autistic children.
“So number one, one of the examples of fraud that we’ve seen in Minnesota that we verified that is just awful, is that a program that existed to ensure that autistic children had access to some after school services has made a number of people rich, not by providing services to needy children, but by allowing fraudsters to take money that ought, by right, go to American citizens and to American families and to set up sham businesses, set up sham clients, set up people who are not even autistic, but claim to be autistic in order that they benefit from the money that’s out there,” Vance said.
He said the impact goes beyond financial losses.
“Now, what does that mean? Number one, it means that a lot of people are getting rich off the generosity of American taxpayers, but more fundamentally and more importantly than that, it means that there are kids in Minnesota who deserve these services, who need these services, and they’re not going to those kids. They’re going to fraudsters in Minneapolis,” Vance said.
“That is unacceptable, and that’s the sort of thing that we’re cutting off with this action today.”
Vance emphasized that the administration’s actions are rooted in protecting both taxpayer dollars and legitimate beneficiaries.
“You know, one of the things I love about our country is that we’re a generous country. We’re generous people,” Vance said.
“We take care of our fellow citizens who can’t afford medical care because they’re down on their luck. We take care of people who can’t afford to put food on the table, even though they work hard and play by the rules. We recognize that we’re all in this together.”
He added that programs such as Medicaid and food assistance exist to support families facing hardship.
“And part of the reason why we have Medicaid or part of the reason why we have food stamps, part of the reason why we have these programs is we want to make sure that kids who grew up in families not all that different from the family that I grew up in, that they have access to the basic necessities, food, medical care, after school services when their family needs them but they’re unable to pay,” Vance said.
Vance said fraud in Minnesota and other states has undermined that purpose.
“What’s happening in Minneapolis, in California, in a number of states all across our country, is that the generosity and the good hearts of our fellow Americans are being taken advantage of,” he said.
“We are taking that social contract that says that our American citizens, we take care of one another, and we’re allowing a few bad actors to get rich off that generosity of spirit, instead of providing the services to the kids who need it. This is disgraceful.”
He concluded by stating that the administration is using a coordinated approach across agencies.
“It has happened for too long, far too many people have gotten rich by taking what is the best of the American spirit and getting rich off of it instead of providing services to kids who need it, that is stopping today,” Vance said.
“We’re taking a whole of government approach in the Trump administration to take this fraud seriously. What Mehmet Oz and his team at CMS have done is really remarkable, and it’s just the first step of our efforts.”
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