Vance issues ultimatum to states: Crack down on fraud or lose some Medicaid funding

Vice President JD Vance on Wednesday announced that he had warned all 50 states to show they were effectively working to root out fraud in the Medicaid programs or face the loss of federal funding.

"Today, we are sending, across 50 Medicaid programs, letters that will require them to show that they are effectively and aggressively prosecuting Medicaid fraud in their states," Vance said.

"These letters are the first step. The first effort to try to force these states to get serious about prosecuting fraud," he said.

He further indicated that the administration did not wish to withhold funding from any state, but that it was prepared to do so. The withholdings would begin with funds for anti-fraud units in the state, but could potentially expand to other parts of the Medicaid program.

Earlier this year, President Donald Trump named Vance as his "fraud czar" to combat misuse of public funds. The appointment and creation of a federal anti-fraud task force followed revelations of mass public welfare fraud in Minneapolis, Minn., linked to the Somali expat community.

Vance subsequently led crackdowns against fraudulent hospices in Los Angeles and has worked to curtail other schemes across the nation.

Ben Whedon is the Chief Political Correspondent at Just the News. Follow him on X.