Medicare fraud is a multibillion-dollar problem that government officials say threatens both taxpayer dollars and Americans’ personal identities.
In a July 6 interview with Fox News Digital at the Great American State Fair in Washington, D.C., Dr. Mehmet Oz warned that every dollar stolen through Medicare fraud is a dollar taxpayers lose – a problem that has worsened since the COVID pandemic.
"If I had to just pick one thing to focus on to make healthcare more affordable in America, I'd go to health fraud and all the waste and abuse that accompanies it," said Oz, who is the administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. "And just to put this in perspective, we think it's about $100 billion a year."
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Medicare fraud can include billing for services that were never provided, overcharging for medical equipment, using stolen patient or doctor information, or performing unnecessary procedures, according to the U.S. Government Accountability Office.
As the Trump administration ramped up efforts to combat fraud, CMS reported $41.9 billion in Medicare program integrity savings in 2025, up 59% from $26.3 billion in 2024.
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Medicare fraud not only harms the federal budget and steals from taxpayers, but exposes seniors to identity theft, unnecessary care, higher premiums and reduced access, Oz cautioned.
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Removing corruption from the healthcare system will have the greatest impact among seniors, since "so much of the fraud is perpetrated against them," the administrator said.
"I'm talking about people tricking seniors to give up their Medicare beneficiary numbers, which is like a credit card basically," he said. "These scammers can take those numbers and use them for all kinds of illegitimate purposes."
"People are stealing from you by pretending to send you drugs you don't want, wheelchairs you don't need, [and] services you never asked for or don't benefit from," Oz added.
To prevent this, he shared his top advice for seniors: Do not give your Medicare beneficiary number to anybody, do not answer questions on a phone call from an unknown person and do not give away personal information.
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"These scammers are calling seniors, tricking them, and once they have key information, they can steal it," he said. "And I won't know it and you won't know it."
"We want to protect people who need these programs the most," Oz went on. "You do that by making sure scoundrels don't corrupt the systems and steal money out of the till that is designed to help folks in dire straits when they're vulnerable and in need of services."
Removing fraud could "double the life expectancy of the trust fund that makes all this possible," Oz predicted.
"If you're worried about Medicare being there when you're ready to retire in a couple decades, depending on how old you are, and you're concerned that it might not last because of all the fraud that's hitting it ... you've got a good [reason to] worry," he said.
"If we take the fraud out, we could double the life expectancy, which means you, your kids, your kids' kids ... they could all benefit from this beautiful safety net program."
from Health News Today on Fox News https://ift.tt/1jDP7d3
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