tRump administration freezes new Medicare enrollments for hospice and home health agencies for 6 months

Source: AP

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Trump administration on Wednesday pursued new efforts in a sweeping initiative to root out fraud in federal health programs, including announcing a nationwide six-month freeze on some new Medicare enrollments and warning states to actively investigate Medicaid fraud or risk losing funding.

The moves are related to Vice President JD Vance's anti-fraud task force, which has been accelerating its messaging before the November elections. The panel set up by Republican President Donald Trump seeks to crack down on potential misuse of public money.

The most significant step Wednesday came from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services with a nationwide six-month moratorium on all new Medicare enrollments by providers of hospice and home care.

"We've seen systemic and deeply troubling fraud in the hospice and home health space, with bad actors exploiting some of our most vulnerable Medicare patients and stealing money from the American taxpayer," the agency's administrator, Dr. Mehmet Oz, said in a statement. "Today we're shutting the door on fraud -- preventing new bad actors from entering Medicare while we aggressively identify, investigate, and remove those already exploiting them."

Read more: https://apnews.com/article/medicare-fraud-trump-vance-oz-health-hospice-534297fffb47e31e2a3906273f20e0b5