Dr. Mehmet Oz, the Trump-appointed Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), just dropped a bombshell on national television, exposing over one BILLION dollars in fraudulent healthcare spending for illegal immigrants.
Appearing on Mornings with Maria on Friday, Oz revealed that his agency uncovered billions of taxpayer dollars funneled to illegal aliens in Democrat-run states, a direct violation of federal law.
“Maria, just in the last few months, in the few states that we’ve examined—less than half a dozen—we’ve identified more than a billion dollars, with a B, of federal tax dollars that have gone to illegal immigrants. We’re actually calling that money back from those states now.
But the fact that this could still happen is very frustrating to all of us. Why would you want to repeal that after all the work that was put into ensuring that these programs, which work so well for vulnerable populations, would remain intact financially?”
BREAKING: Trump CMS chief Mehmet Oz just said he found over $1 BILLION in fraudulent spending on healthcare for ILLEGAL ALIENS.
“In the few states we’ve examined, we’ve identified more than a BILLION DOLLARS of money – federal tax dollars – that have gone to illegal… pic.twitter.com/oF3eYjDNnT
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) October 24, 2025
During a “Fox & Friends” interview with Ainsley Earhardt last week, Dr. Oz blasted Democrat-led states for abusing taxpayer funds while gaslighting Americans about the extent of fraud within the Medicaid system.
According to Oz, CMS investigators discovered that Democrat-run states like California, Illinois, New York, and Minnesota have been using federal Medicaid dollars to provide full dental, vision, and comprehensive healthcare to illegal immigrants, services that even Medicare recipients don’t receive.
Oz said the Trump administration’s “One Big, Beautiful Bill” was designed to block this very abuse and claw back stolen funds. But now, Democrats in Congress are trying to repeal the bill, which would reopen the floodgates for illegal spending.
The $1 billion figure may just be the beginning. Oz said his agency has only reviewed a fraction of states so far, and the full amount of misused funds could be “significantly higher.”
He revealed that some states have already started returning funds, acknowledging their wrongdoing as CMS tightens audits.
Ainsley Earhardt:
As the government shutdown drags on, the White House is shedding light on how dozens of criminal illegal migrants received Medicaid before their arrests and deportations. White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson told Fox News Digital, “Due to previously lax federal controls and Democrat state policies, criminal illegal murderers and rapists received Medicaid at the American taxpayers’ expense.”Mehmet Oz:
You know, the Democrats have been gaslighting us on this issue of Medicaid funds going to illegal immigrants for quite a while. When the President came into office, he insisted we take the fraud, waste, and abuse out of the system.That’s why the One Big, Beautiful Bill has provisions to do just that. The shutdown, as you know, is in part because the Democrats want to repeal that landmark legislation.
They keep claiming that there is no money going from Medicaid—an agency that I run—toward illegal immigrants. We decided to do our homework. We sent our best investigators out to evaluate exactly what is going on.
I’m here to announce, Ainsley—and this is a big deal—that just over the last few months, we have proven that there’s been over a billion dollars. That’s a billion with a “B.” It’s a lot of money. It’s not a rounding error.
A billion dollars paid by U.S. taxpayers for illegal immigrants in about half a dozen states. We’re just getting started—it’s going to be significantly more money than that.
Just to break this down for everybody, Ainsley—if you live in Texas or Florida and you’re paying U.S. federal taxes (most people do), your money is being diverted to places like California, which have robust benefits for illegal immigrants—dental, vision, things you don’t even get on Medicare.
Those funds—we’ve had no ability to track them until today. Now we’re investigating, and we’re going to continue to track this across the country.
Ainsley Earhardt:
Is that going to continue under the Trump administration? How can we stop this from happening?Mehmet Oz:
Well, the legislation allows us to do just that. We are no longer obliged to pay for illegal immigrants in states that decide, out of the largesse of their hearts, that they want to fund those programs.If you want to fund full dental, vision, and robust health services in, for example, California or Illinois or New York or Minnesota—that’s your choice. But if you want to do that, you have to pay with your own state income tax. You can’t use federal dollars for that.
So we are clawing that money back. Some of these states know they’re guilty—they’ve already begun paying the money back. We will get all that money back into our federal coffers. The President is laser-focused on protecting the U.S. taxpayer.
But Ainsley, this raises a bigger issue—why are we shut down? The people who should be doing these investigations, the folks who can solve some of the problems we’re having to improve the quality of care—not just in healthcare but many other services—are being compromised by a shutdown that’s based on false information. There is money being given to illegal immigrants on Medicaid.
Again, Medicaid is designed for our most vulnerable, Ainsley. It’s designed for our kids, for our elderly, for folks who are struggling with significant health issues. They need those funds.
You can’t just dole that out to able-bodied illegal immigrants in states because they think it’s the right thing to do. If they want to pay for it, they should pay for it.
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