Dr. Oz Uncovers Billions in Medicare and Medicaid Fraud, Waste, and Abuse: ‘If You Thought USAID was a Problem, This Will Bring Little Shiver to You’

Dr. Mehmet Oz, newly sworn in as Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), has exposed billions of dollars in fraud, waste, and abuse plaguing America’s healthcare safety nets.

Appearing on America’s Newsroom with Bill Hemmer, Dr. Oz laid out a clear and urgent mission: protect the most vulnerable — not enrich bureaucrats, fraudsters, and corrupt insiders.

“Right now, my main focus, without any question, is to wage a war on fraud, waste, and abuse — because that’s what’s required. All hands on deck,” Dr. Oz said.

Under President Trump’s directive to “love and cherish Medicare and Medicaid,” Dr. Oz has mobilized an aggressive “war room” to identify, track, and claw back fraudulent payments.

“It’s a massive issue — hundreds of billions of dollars potentially out there. Not all of it is going to be collected at once, but we’ve got a war room focused very much on things that are going to really bother you.”

“If you thought USAID was a problem, some of the issues we are discovering — some of the things CMS has been funding through Medicare, Medicaid, and the exchanges — will bring a little shiver to you,” Dr. Oz warned.

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In just a short time, the CMS team has flagged tens of billions of dollars in illicit spending. Among the jaw-dropping examples:

• $1 billion in Medicare funds went to individuals fraudulently registered in multiple states.
• $200 million spent on housekeeping services, unrelated to Medicaid’s core mission.
• $10 million diverted to student loan repayments, robbing funds from life-saving treatments like gene therapy for sickle cell anemia.
• $14 million squandered on DEI initiatives and labor union childcare benefits.
• 250,000 ineligible individuals registered in the marketplace, siphoning resources.

Oz emphasized these findings aren’t rounding errors — they’re the result of deliberate, organized criminal activity, sometimes even tied to foreign adversaries.

“The $31 million that I know of last week is a great example. We stopped that money — using new technology, modernizing how Medicare and Medicaid work — from even leaving the building because we knew something was fishy about the bills,” said Dr. Oz.

“These aren’t just small mistakes. These are organized criminal efforts to hurt our country, some launched by foreign countries. These are serious issues we are digging into — and that’s why we have this war room.”

Democrats, led by figures like Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, have accused the Trump administration and Dr. Oz of plotting to gut Medicare and Medicaid.

Schumer claimed the administration prioritizes “the billionaire class” over working Americans, while AOC alleged cuts to veterans’ benefits and Medicaid. Dr. Oz dismissed these attacks as baseless fearmongering.

“President Trump has been very clear with me — he said it publicly — he wants to love and cherish, I’m quoting him, Medicare and Medicaid, these programs,” Dr. Oz explained.

“We are focused on saving Medicaid. That’s what we have to do. The existential threat is spending it into the ground so we don’t have the resources to take care of our most vulnerable.”

Addressing concerns about program cuts, Dr. Oz reassured Americans that the core mission of Medicaid—supporting poor children, pregnant women, the elderly, and the disabled—remains untouched.