JD Vance threatens health funding to states that don’t comply with White House anti-fraud effort

JD Vance has threatened to “turn off” federal funding for government health insurance programs in states that refuse to comply with the Trump administration ’s crackdown on suspected fraud. States which fail to “get serious” about fraud would lose Medicaid and Medicare funding, the US vice-president announced on Wednesday, sparking fresh accusations that Trump officials are using unfounded allegations to punish political rivals. Hospices and home health agencies are also halted from new Medicare enrollment for six months while the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) investigates potential fraud alongside Vance’s anti-fraud taskforce, the agency announced on Wednesday. The administration will review anti-fraud funding for states that it deems to have failed to tackle fraud, Vance said. “And if we continue to find problems, we can turn off other resources within their state Medicaid programs as well. “Our goal here is not to do that. We don’t want to turn off any money,” the vice-president claimed. “What we want to do is ensure that people are taking fraud seriously. “We want to protect Medicaid. We want to protect Medicare. But we can’t do that if the states that are administering those programs are allowing those programs to be fleeced by fraudsters.” The news follows a crackdown on Minnesota and three other Democratic states, as well as a freeze on new medical suppliers for Medicare. …