{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://guthrie.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=391034", "Chairman Guthrie Op-Ed \u2013 Fraud in Federal Health Programs", "2026-05-18", "2026", "2026-05", "Republican", "House", "KY", "Brett Guthrie", "G000558", "guthrie.house.gov", "guthrie", "https://guthrie.house.gov/news", "scraper", "Bowling Green, KY \u2013 In a new op-ed in the Bowling Green Daily News, Chairman of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, Brett Guthrie (KY-02), outlined how he and his Committee have led the charge to expose fraud being committed in federal health programs like Medicaid and Medicare.\n\nChairman Guthrie: Fraud in Federal Health Programs\n\nBowling Green Daily News\n\nChairman Brett Guthrie\n\nMay 16, 2026\n\n\u201cIn November 2024, the American people sent President Trump and a Republican trifecta to Washington to restore common sense and, importantly, take action to root out waste, fraud, and abuse in the federal government. Over the past 16 months, government agencies, special task forces, and even independent reporters have exposed a pervasive and nearly institutionalized level of fraud in programs across the federal government.\n\n\u201cLike so many Americans, I have been outraged by the fraud that has come to light.\n\n\u201cIn Congress, I serve as the Chairman of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, which has a broad jurisdiction of health care policy, including Medicaid and parts of Medicare. Last year, Republicans in Congress took action to close loopholes in these programs that enabled fraud and abuse as a part of the work we did in H.R. 1, the Working Families Tax Cuts. Early this year, my Committee continued this work, conducting a series of hearings to examine fraud that has occurred in these programs.\n\n\u201cDuring a recent hearing, I asked Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. about the most shocking examples of fraud he has seen uncovered since he took office.\n\n\u201cSecretary Kennedy highlighted the ways that, while in office, the Biden-Harris Administration enabled fraud to snowball in our government health programs. Some examples he gave included the establishment of a program that knowingly paid out fraudulent claims, the significant reduction in the staff of the program integrity office, the way in which the Biden-Harris Administration prevented the government from validating eligibility for benefits more than once a year, and more.\n\n\u201cUnfortunately, this isn\u2019t a surprise. In our first hearing in this series, we heard from witnesses who work in various roles that identify and work to eliminate fraud in health systems across the country. For nearly three hours, these witnesses explained common schemes that they see which negatively impact Medicaid and Medicare. Examples included:\n\nPeople\u2019s identities being stolen, and benefits being used to pay scammers, which often results in a denial of care when the patient actually needs it.\n\nScammers, including foreign entities, setting up fake Medicare and Medicaid accounts to receive illegitimate benefits.\n\nBad-faith health providers and fraudsters billing the taxpayer for services they never provided to patients.\n\n\u201cWe also conducted a hearing with Kimberly Brandt, who serves as the Deputy Administrator at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). During this hearing, Deputy Administrator Brandt discussed the work CMS is actively doing to combat fraud in the system.\n\n\u201cFor example, CMS has uncovered schemes in which scammers will fraudulently bill Medicare for durable medical equipment, genetic testing, and clinical laboratory testing that are either medically unnecessary or were never provided. They have also shockingly uncovered schemes in which Medicare beneficiaries without terminal illnesses are being unknowingly signed up for hospice care. Bad actors are undermining Americans\u2019 trust in these programs and risking the integrity of Medicaid and Medicare; it cannot be allowed to continue.\n\n\u201cThe fact is, billions of taxpayer dollars are being scammed from federal health programs annually, and it is negatively affecting the Medicare and Medicaid programs for those who need it most: seniors, expectant mothers, children, and people with disabilities.\n\n\u201cRather than seeing this as an opportunity to work across the aisle and find bipartisan ways to end fraud, my Democrat colleagues have spent the past months fighting against transparent investigations, undermining the important work carried out by this Committee\u2026 even wasting time debating the definition of 'fraud.' This is sadly all an attempt to cover up the fact that the policies of the Biden-Harris Administration enabled fraud to run rampant for years. Some things you just can\u2019t make up.\n\n\u201cFrom California, to Minnesota, to New York, fraud in federal health care programs have created real consequences for the most vulnerable Americans who rely on Medicaid and Medicare. To preserve the integrity of these important programs, we must close loopholes, prosecute bad actors, and safeguard the most vulnerable in our communities.\n\n\u201cI am grateful for the work the Trump Administration has already undertaken to combat the rampant fraud in federal health programs, and I look forward to continuing to collaborate with my colleagues in Congress to end this concerning trend to guarantee that benefits are available to those who need them most.\n\n\u201cCongressman Brett Guthrie serves as Chairman of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, which has a broad health care jurisdiction, including Medicaid and some Medicare policy.\u201d", 1, "2026-05-19T06:31:01Z", "2026-05-19T06:32:40Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://guthrie.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=391034"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.9539918974041939, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}