This initiative is part of Vance’s task force on healthcare fraud
This suspension will give the government time to carefully review accounts
The fight against fraud began in Minnesota
(Added official announcement details to paragraphs 1-2 and 4-9)
by Jody Godoy and Courtney Rozen
The Trump administration will prevent new home and palliative care providers from enrolling in Medicare for at least the next six months, according to a government release on Wednesday, citing concerns related to widespread fraud.
This moratorium will temporarily prevent new providers in these categories from enrolling to receive reimbursement through Medicare, a government health insurance program for Americans aged 65 and older and disabled individuals. It will not impact providers already enrolled in Medicare, according to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, who oversee the program.
This is the latest step taken by Vice President JD Vance’s anti-fraud task force, aimed at combating scams in the healthcare sector.
The U.S. government has been trying for years to combat fraudulent Medicare payments to palliative and home care providers.
Fraudsters may bill Medicare for palliative or home care services that the patient neither needs nor wants, allowing them to pocket millions of dollars from the U.S. government. The national fraud prevention group Senior Medicare Patrol has issued alerts on this issue several times.
The CMS has previously suspended enrollments in certain counties when staff suspected fraud, including in 2013 when access for new providers was banned in Miami-Dade County, Florida.
“This is about protecting patients, restoring integrity, and preserving taxpayer money,” said Mehmet Oz, CMS administrator, in a statement.
Reuters was the first to report on this suspension. This moratorium will allow CMS time to account for expenditures related to palliative and home care within the Medicare program and develop additional guidelines, said an administration official.
The Trump administration has been criticized for prioritizing political preferences over agency efforts to eliminate fraud in public payments. The administration has singled out some Democratic-led states, including California and Minnesota, alleging they are not doing enough to combat fraud. However, it has also increased oversight of palliative care in Georgia and Ohio last year, two Republican-led states.
Different Approaches in the Sector
In 2024, 1.8 million Medicare beneficiaries received palliative care totaling $28.3 billion, according to the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission. In the same year, 2.7 million Medicare patients received home care totaling $16 billion, as advised to Congress on health expenditures.
Vance’s task force has recently taken action against palliative care services, particularly in California, where the state auditor declared in 2022 that lax oversight had allowed widespread fraud.
Professional groups advocated for different approaches as the Trump administration evaluated actions to take.
The National Partnership for Healthcare and Hospice Innovation stated in March that it supported the temporary suspension of palliative care provider enrollments. The National Alliance for Care at Home cautioned against overly broad measures that could discourage physicians and patients from recommending or seeking care.
Key home care operators in the U.S. include BrightSpring Health Services, Matrix Medical Network, backed by private equity funds, and VITAS Healthcare, a subsidiary of Chemed Corporation, among major palliative care providers.
Strengthening Fight Against Fraud
According to the National Health Care Anti-Fraud Association, fraud in the healthcare sector leads to tens of billions of dollars in losses each year in the U.S., resulting in increased costs for patients and employers.
The administration of President Donald Trump also sought to target other healthcare sectors it deemed vulnerable to fraud. In February, the administration suspended enrollments in Medicare for durable medical equipment providers, such as prosthetics.
The fight against fraud began in Minnesota, where the Trump administration announced in February that it would withhold $259 million in funds allocated to Medicaid, the federal and state program for low-income Americans.
Trump repeatedly cited a scandal in Minnesota in 2020, where 47 individuals were accused of diverting $250 million from a state and federally funded child nutrition program. Many of the accused in this case were reported to be Somali-Americans by local media.
This controversy prompted Trump to deploy thousands of immigration agents earlier this year as part of an immigration crackdown. He took a less aggressive approach after federal agents shot and killed two individuals protesting his policies.
In announcing the establishment of the fraud task force in March, Trump, without providing evidence, stated that fraud allegations were more common in Democratic-led states than Republican-led states.
