Staff Reports
Peter Schweizer and his Government Accountability Institute co-host Eric Eggers are back on The Drill Down saying something many of us already suspected: the federal “war on fraud” is moving forward, but some big states would rather play defense than fight. Their new episode spotlights roughly $2 billion in Medicare and Medicaid recoveries in 2025 and argues the real problem is hiding where state officials don’t want to look.
The figures on fraud recovery — encouraging but incomplete
The headline number is about $2 billion recovered in recent federal and state enforcement actions. That’s a healthy increase from earlier years and roughly 40 percent higher than the last full year of the prior administration, according to the accounting cited on The Drill Down and agency statements. But Schweizer and Eggers argue those recoveries are just the tip of the iceberg — and that the iceberg sits in states that won’t lift a shovel.
Which states are actually pursuing Medicaid and Medicare fraud?
The Drill Down points to a clear pattern: states that want to find fraud do — and those that don’t won’t. The podcast contrasts aggressive enforcement in places like Ohio, Indiana, Pennsylvania, and Michigan with much lighter results in California and Minnesota. Schweizer and Eggers cite state-level differences in staffing, investigations, and indictments to make their case. Those state-by-state differences matter because Medicaid and Medicare are run with heavy state involvement, so state cooperation is essential for rooting out fraud.
Why the White House had to step in — and why it’s right to
Enter Vice President J.D. Vance’s whole-of-government anti-fraud effort and CMS Administrator Mehmet Oz’s actions. The administration has used moratoria on hospice and home-health enrollments and deferred reimbursements to force cooperation from recalcitrant states. Critics complain the moves are blunt and may sweep up legitimate small providers. Fair point — but you don’t get to whine about false positives when your state has tens of millions in questionable claims and only a handful of indictments to show for it.
Politics, not policy, explains a lot
Schweizer didn’t shy away from the politics. The Drill Down points to cases in Minnesota and elsewhere where local ties and political calculations appear to have blunted enforcement. When politics outweighs program integrity, taxpayers lose and fraudsters win. If state leaders would rather protect voting blocs or local allies than enforce the law, the federal government has both the duty and the right to use the tools it has — and to hold those states accountable.
Bottom line: the recent Drum Down episode is a reminder that fraud-fighting needs muscle and will, not press releases. The administration’s $2 billion recovery is progress. But real success will mean sustained prosecutions, better data-driven prevention, and unwilling states either changing their ways or feeling the fiscal consequences. If politicians prefer optics over results, the rest of us will be left paying the bill — and that, frankly, is a scandal no party can afford.
