That’s why, as the Chairman of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, I launched an investigation into the industrial-scale fraud that is impacting the Medicaid and Medicare benefits for those who need them most: seniors, expectant mothers, children, and people with disabilities.

Recently, our House Committee on Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations held a hearing to examine the common schemes that cause real harm to Americans enrolled in the Medicaid and Medicare programs.  I was hoping that this hearing would bring bipartisan condemnation of instances of fraud and a willingness to work together to root it out across the federal government. Unfortunately, I was wrong.

Instead of discussing how Medicaid and Medicare fraud harms our seniors and the most vulnerable, liberals spent time playing semantics with the definition of the word fraud! Some things you just can’t make up.

To me, the commonsense definition of fraud is when:

• $14 billion has been scammed from the system
• People's identities are stolen, and they can't receive the benefits they are owed
• Scammers, including foreign entities, set up fake Medicare and Medicaid accounts to receive illegitimate benefits
• Bad-faith health providers bill the taxpayer for services they never provided to patients

The above examples illustrate exactly the types of fraud that the House Committee on Energy and Commerce has continued to sound the alarm on over the last year. Our committee also included numerous provisions in the Working Families Tax Cuts to eliminate fraud, specifically in Medicaid, like requiring states to verify the eligibility of Medicaid recipients, and ensuring that those illegally in our country cannot access benefits. 

This hearing was just another step in my Committee’s broader investigation into fraud in our social services programs. We are committed to combating these destructive schemes that are being perpetrated across the United States. To stay up to date on this topic and other updates, click here or the button below.

It is an honor to serve you.