Authored by Jack Phillips via The Epoch Times,
The administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) confirmed this week that his office is eyeing Florida for instances of potential health care fraud.
Dr. Mehmet Oz, also known as Dr. Oz, wrote on March 17 on X that what he saw in Florida “around durable medical equipment fraud was horrifying” and indicated that Florida and Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican, are “next up” in his fraud investigation.
“The scale is out of control—and not just limited to these schemes,” he said in the post.
“The reality is that fraud in our government health programs is widespread, sophisticated, and deeply entrenched.”
The announcement appears to signal that Florida is the first GOP-controlled state to be targeted by CMS in a crackdown on health care fraud. Previously, New York, Minnesota, and California were the states that Oz had focused on.
DeSantis’s office did not respond to a request for comment by publication time.
Authorities in Florida suggested that they would work with the Trump administration in rooting out fraud in health programs.
Jason Weida, chief of staff for the Florida governor, responded that the state is working with Oz and CMS to discover any criminal activity.
“We have zero tolerance for waste, fraud, and abuse—and we will aggressively deploy every resource necessary to root it out at any level in our state,” he wrote in a post on X.
Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier, a Republican, said in a post, “The Medicaid system is overwhelmed with fraud and abuse, and we look forward to working with Dr. Oz on these issues!”
He provided an example in which his office prosecuted a man who allegedly stole Medicaid funding that was meant for transportation services for disabled children in the state.
Since taking office last year, the Trump administration has prioritized rooting out fraud, waste, and abuse within the federal government. A task force, the Department of Government Efficiency, was also established by President Donald Trump to help with the removal of wasteful or fraudulent programs.
It comes as Trump signed an order on March 16 creating an anti-fraud task force led by Vice President JD Vance to look into fraud allegations across the country. Trump specifically singled out California during his remarks on March 16 and said that fraud allegations were higher in Democrat-led states than in Republican-led states.
Vance, who appeared with Trump in the Oval Office during the announcement, said the order would force the federal government to “stop the fraud of the American taxpayer and make sure that the benefits that ought by right go to American citizens, go to American citizens, and not to fraudsters.”
The vice president last month criticized Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, a Democrat who was presidential candidate Kamala Harris’s running mate in 2024, over his efforts to combat fraud. Walz had criticized the Trump administration for what he described as a “campaign of retribution” against him.
Responding to the Trump administration’s allegations of fraud in his state, the office of California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, criticized the president and said his administration has arrested numerous criminals who allegedly engaged in fraudulent activities.
In a post on X, Newsom’s office wrote, “If Trump is serious about fraud, great—he’s got a partner in California in wanting to tackle it.”