The Trump administration is opening a fraud probe in Florida as it expands its nationwide crackdown on state Medicaid programs, according to the Associated Press.
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz appeared to confirm the move in a Tuesday post on the social platform X, claiming that the state had become a “hotspot for health care fraud” in recent years.
“What I saw on the ground in Florida around durable medical equipment fraud was horrifying,” Oz wrote. “The scale is out of control – and not just limited to these schemes. Cleaning this up will require a laser focus and real action from state leaders.”
The AP reported that Oz sent a letter to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) and other state leaders requesting information on how the state identifies, prevents and addresses bad actors. Similar letters have previously been sent to New York, Minnesota, Maine and California.
Oz argued in his post that fraud was “widespread, sophisticated, and deeply entrenched” within federal healthcare programs, referencing at least three high-dollar fraud convictions in Florida since January.
The state’s Attorney General James Uthmeier wrote on X that Florida’s system was “overwhelmed” with fraud, signaling his office’s willingness to work with Oz.
DeSantis’s chief of staff, Jason Weida, also vowed the governor’s cooperation in tackling the issue.
“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. Stay tuned,” Weida wrote.
President Trump campaigned in 2024 on pledges to root out waste, fraud and abuse in the federal government and has taken a series of actions in his second term aimed at advancing that goal.
Trump signed an executive order on Monday establishing a task force led by Vice President Vance to “coordinate and accelerate a comprehensive national strategy to stop fraud, waste, and abuse” in various government programs.
Those efforts have drawn criticism from Democrats, who argue the Trump administration is exaggerating the scale of the issue to justify policy changes and funding cuts.
Trump officials announced that $259 million in Medicaid funding to Minnesota would be temporarily halted over fraud concerns, a move Gov. Tim Walz (D) slammed as “political punishment.”
