Dr. Mehmet Oz, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) administrator, said his agency and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) have identified at least $14 billion in fraud, waste, and abuse.
As an example, Oz said: “You live in New Jersey, but you move to Pennsylvania, and which state gets your Medicaid? Turns out both states collect money from the federal government.”
There are other areas, he said, that constitute abuse of the federal health care system. He said some people who are eligible to get a job or seek education are receiving Medicaid. Oz echoed statements made by GOP lawmakers, including House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) and Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.)., who in recent days said that able-bodied individuals and illegal immigrants have received Medicaid benefits.
Oz urged that Medicaid be cleaned up so that it can provide services to individuals such as people with disabilities and others, suggesting that Republicans keep a work requirement to be eligible for the program.
“I think there’s a moral hazard if we don’t, because you’ve got people who are not working who could work, who should work, and it’s better for them and better for the country if they do,” he said, referring to Republicans’ having added work requirements to the One Big Beautiful Bill Act that passed in the House of Representatives on May 22.
The bill, which is now in the hands of the Senate, would impose work requirements for low-income adults to receive Medicaid health insurance and would increase those requirements for food assistance. Supporters of the bill say the moves will save money, root out waste, and encourage personal responsibility.
Starting next year, many able-bodied Medicaid enrollees under age 65 would be required to show that they work, volunteer, or go to school in exchange for the health insurance coverage under the measure. Only Arkansas has had a work requirement that kicks people off for noncompliance.
Established by President Donald Trump earlier in 2025, DOGE is tasked with finding fraud, waste, and abuse, although some of its efforts in federal agencies have been blocked by courts. A U.S. district judge in Maryland, for example, in March blocked the agency from accessing Social Security Administration systems, prompting the Trump administration to submit an emergency petition to the Supreme Court earlier in May.
The task force has been effectively led by Tesla CEO Elon Musk, senior adviser to Trump. Musk is a special government employee, meaning that he has 130 days to complete his work. Musk said during a Tesla earnings call in April that he would be stepping back from his government duties in May to focus on his company.
Over the past weekend, Musk wrote in a post on social media platform X that he is now working more at his companies, including Tesla and X.
“As evidenced by the 𝕏 uptime issues this week, major operational improvements need to be made. The failover redundancy should have worked, but did not.”
Oz, a former daytime television personality and doctor known as Dr. Oz, was confirmed as the 17th CMS administrator by the Senate in early April.
The Epoch Times contacted the CMS for comment on May 26.
