Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Thursday challenged the believability of a House Democrat who accused him and the Trump administration of being “soft on fraud.”
“I don’t think there’s anybody in this country who believes that this administration is soft on fraud,” Mr. Kennedy told Rep. Lloyd Doggett at a House Ways and Means Committee hearing.
Mr. Doggett, Texas Democrat, had pressed Mr. Kennedy on his role in the “soft on crime approach to health care fraudsters,” despite the Trump administration’s anti-fraud offense against rampant rip-offs of the Medicaid program in Democrat-run states such as Minnesota.
Still, Mr. Doggett said some health care fraudsters had received pardons or commutations during President Trump’s time in office.
He cited the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ reinstatement of 850 brokers and insurance agents who had been suspended in 2024 for suspected Affordable Care Act marketplace fraud. He asked if Mr. Kennedy could guarantee that every one of those suspects was thoroughly investigated and found to be innocent of any fraud, wrongdoing or criminal activity.
Mr. Kennedy said he did not know if there had been any new complaints of fraud against those people.
Picking up on the fraud issue, GOP Rep. Beth Van Duyne of Texas asked what Mr. Kennedy is doing to combat waste, fraud and abuse. He cited the nearly 500 hospices that have been shut down in Los Angeles.
“Incidentally, we haven’t had one call from Congress or anybody else about complaining because clearly, these were fraudulent,” he said.
Ms. Van Duyne said that not a week goes by that his office is not uncovering further fraud.
“They’re not upset about the fraud; they’re upset that it’s being uncovered and your office is helping to do that,” she said.
Rep. David Schweikert, Arizona Republican, asked what to do to help fix Medicaid programs that seem to be used as a “jobs program, and not a health program.”
“Something is wrong when the biggest job creator in New York City over the last few years turns out to be a home visitation program that you all manage,” he said to Mr. Kennedy.
Part of the reason for this problem, Mr. Kennedy said, is waiver programs that allow those taking care of elderly relatives to be paid for balancing a checkbook, picking up the groceries or chauffeuring to a doctor’s appointment.
“This is wrought with fraud because we have no way at CMS to determine whether they actually perform that or not,” he said.
• Mary McCue Bell can be reached at mbell@washingtontimes.com.
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