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."BIG MEDICARE CHANGE SLASHES WEIGHT-LOSS DRUG COSTS FOR ELIGIBLE SENIORSMedicare 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.CMS administrator Dr.
Mehmet Oz is pictured on stage at the Great American State Fair in Washington, D.C., on July 6, 2026.(Angelica Stabile/Fox News Digital)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.CLICK HERE FOR MORE HEALTH STORIESMedicare 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.CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR OUR HEALTH NEWSLETTERRemoving 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 t...