In a new statement from Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Dr. Mehmet Oz, five states were singled out for a pattern of fraud and waste that he said is being vigorously investigated by his agency.
As Fox News reported, Oz noted that this could be just the tip of the iceberg:
“We’ve written letters to Minnesota, California, a letter to Florida because we’re worried about the durable medical equipment fraud, New York, Maine, and there are more coming,” Oz told Fox News Digital in a Zoom interview, adding that his concern expands to all 50 states, as well.
Oz has escalated federal pressure on states to tighten anti-fraud enforcement following Minnesota’s $250 million “Feeding Our Future” scheme. CMS is leaving no stone unturned, he said, looking at programs such as Medicaid and hospices also revealing foreign influence in the fraud scheme.
ADVERTISEMENT“We know the Cuban government seems to be implicated in some issues in South Florida, where you have twice as many durable medical equipment suppliers selling wheelchairs and knee braces than McDonald’s,” said Oz.
The anti-fraud task force, led by Vice President JD Vance, announced in February that durable medical equipment, prosthetics, orthotics, and supplies (DMEPOS) suppliers will be targeted through a nationwide moratorium.
“The Vice President’s task force continues to work closely with Dr. Oz and CMS to track down and root out fraud,” said a Vance spokesperson to Fox News Digital. “The task force is committed to ensuring that American tax dollars are used for the benefit of the American people, and will continue to successfully do exactly that.”
Fighting fraud has been a hallmark of President Donald Trump’s second term thus far, and it’s notable that Minnesota leads the list of states being singled out by the CMS director.
Stories of fraud, particularly from within Minnesota’s Somali community, have been widely disseminated across social media in recent months:
🚨 WOW! Trump just hinted Tim Walz and Keith Ellison could be LOCKED UP for Minnesota fraud
MAN IN CROWD: "LOCK THEM UP!"
POTUS: "Well, stranger things have happened!" 😏
"Our Attorney General is doing a GREAT job, isn't he? Todd Blanche! There's a LOT of pent up action!" pic.twitter.com/OOoMXQ7p91
— Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) May 1, 2026
Holy Smokes! Text messages between scammers revealed in Minnesota Fraud.
Scammer: "How much longer you doing the daycare scam?" The owner replied: "Another year or two. I'm going to buy some nice homes in Nairobi."
All under Walz's watch. We want to see jail time. pic.twitter.com/4VmoacZauQ
— Anti Fraud (@AntiFraudClub) May 2, 2026
🚨 BREAKING: Jay Swanson, a former state trooper who investigated child care fraud in Minnesota, provides damning testimony to the House fraud committee
Scammers would "say they first heard about it while in the refugee camp in Kenya … they had heard you could run the scam in… pic.twitter.com/AyJizmMJQa
— Alpha News (@AlphaNews) April 28, 2026
Here’s the full text from the post above:
BREAKING: Jay Swanson, a former state trooper who investigated child care fraud in Minnesota, provides damning testimony to the House fraud committee
ADVERTISEMENTScammers would “say they first heard about it while in the refugee camp in Kenya … they had heard you could run the scam in a number of different states, but it was easiest and you could make the most money doing it in Minnesota.”
Swanson then detailed the retaliation he says he faced from Department of Human Services leaders and said he was told to delete some of his answers to an inquiry from the legislative auditor.
“I soon had a senior DHS official in my office, angry, red-faced, and almost yelling. The senior DHS official told me to delete a number of paragraphs … I then advised this official that I believed what they were telling me to do was illegal.”
“I told them that the fraud was so huge that sooner or later it would come to light.”
Oz also discussed the federal government’s remedy for that pattern of fraud in Minnesota, as CBS News reported:
In a tweet posted earlier Thursday afternoon, Oz said the new deferral follows a “pattern we can’t ignore” of issues in Minnesota’s Medicaid program. Oz referenced previous incidents, such as the “Learing Center” brouhaha and recent Department of Justice actions involving childcare centers, claiming that these were not isolated breakdowns.
According to Oz, of the $91 million now being withheld, $76 million is tied to 14 service categories he identified as “highly vulnerable” to fraud.
“We cannot and will not pay bad bills, so we’re asking for more information from Minnesota to verify these bills,” Oz said. He added that CMS will continue to use all available tools to protect the integrity of the Medicaid program.
ADVERTISEMENTEarlier this year, CMS deferred over $260 million in Medicaid funding to Minnesota after auditing fourth-quarter fiscal year 2025 billing. Oz said the federal government funds roughly half of Medicaid and has both the authority and responsibility to ensure those dollars are spent legally and appropriately.
Here’s more from Oz’s recent remarks:
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