JD Vance is arguing that some of the largest obstacles to rooting out fraud in federal benefit programs are coming from states where he says the problem is most severe.

Vance singled out California, Illinois, and New York, contending that those states are not cooperating enough with federal efforts to identify fraudulent claims involving major programs such as Medicare and Medicaid.

“The biggest problem with finding fraud is actually that the states where it's worst are also the states that have the least willingness to cooperate with what we're doing,” Vance said.

He said large-scale federal programs operating in heavily populated states create significant opportunities for abuse, particularly when state officials are unwilling to assist with verification efforts.

Trump's Sovereign Wealth Fund: What Could It Mean For Your Money?

“So when you look at some of the bigger ticket items for fraud, you know you're looking at Medicare fraud in California,” Vance said.

Vance then described two forms of abuse he believes investigators are encountering: benefits going to people who are in the country illegally and claims connected to entirely fabricated identities.

“People who are illegal, people who aren't even like human beings-they're just like a completely made-up, you know, shell of a person,” Vance said.

He argued that California is not doing enough to help federal officials combat those kinds of fraudulent claims.

FREE Gun Law Map: Laws Don't Pause During Social Unrest

“But unfortunately, the state of California is not actually helping us fight back against that particular fraud,” Vance said.

Vance also focused on Medicaid, saying that large numbers of illegal immigrants in Illinois, New York and California are receiving benefits through the program.

“Or we know that there are hundreds of 1000s, maybe more, illegal aliens in Illinois, New York, and California who are on Medicaid,” Vance said.

He tied those enrollments directly to taxpayer costs, arguing that healthcare coverage for such a large population represents a major financial burden.

“That obviously is billions and billions of dollars to provide healthcare to those people,” Vance said.

His broader argument is that fraud is most difficult to control when enormous government programs operate in states that have also experienced high levels of illegal immigration.

“So the basic fraud that exists is the big programs in states that have allowed themselves to be overrun by illegal immigration,” Vance said.

WATCH:

Vance’s comments place immigration policy and federal benefit enforcement at the center of the fraud debate.

He argued that the problem is not limited to isolated cases of false paperwork or improper payments, but instead involves large programs in states where eligibility verification can have enormous financial consequences.

His criticism of California centered on what he described as an unwillingness to cooperate with federal anti-fraud efforts.

Vance suggested that investigators can identify suspicious activity, but their ability to address it is limited when state governments do not participate fully.

He also framed the issue as one of scale.

Medicare and Medicaid account for substantial government spending, and Vance argued that improper enrollment involving fabricated identities or people who should not qualify can quickly produce losses measured in billions of dollars.

California, Illinois and New York were the states Vance repeatedly identified as examples of the problem.

He said their combination of large benefit programs, illegal immigration and limited cooperation creates conditions where fraud can become particularly costly.

Vance’s remarks ultimately amounted to a call for greater scrutiny of state-administered benefit systems and stronger cooperation between state and federal authorities.

In his view, combating welfare and healthcare fraud requires more than identifying individual bad actors.

It also requires states to work with federal officials to verify recipients and prevent taxpayer-funded programs from being used by people who do not qualify.

The opinions expressed by contributors and/or content partners are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of Objectivist. Contact us for guidelines on submitting your own commentary.