Attorney General Rokita calls on Congress to help states fight Medicaid welfare fraud

Attorney General Todd Rokita today called on Congress to pass the “STOP FRAUD in Medicaid Act” without delay.

The provision would grant states the authority to investigate and prosecute Medicaid beneficiary/recipient welfare fraud rather than limiting their purview (as under current federal law) to investigating and prosecuting Medicaid provider welfare fraud.

This past spring, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General named Indiana’s Medicaid fraud team the “MFCU Unit of the Year.”

“Here in Indiana, we have the very best Medicaid Fraud Control Unit in the United States, which has already been named “Unit of the Year”,” Attorney General Rokita said. “Imagine the additional good work we could accomplish on Hoosiers’ behalf if Congress took the commonsense and logical step of expanding our authority to pursue recipient welfare fraud as well as provider welfare fraud.”

Since Attorney General Rokita took office, the Indiana MFCU has recovered more than $100 million in money misspent via Medicaid welfare fraud.

Over the past 12 months, the Indiana MFCU has indicted or charged 52 providers, achieved 41 convictions and referred 59 providers for exclusion from the Medicaid program. During this same period, MFCU’s licensing team has resolved 132 total cases — 31 of which resulted in license suspensions, and 30 of which resulted in revocations. 

The Medicaid program — a vital lifeline for more than 1 million Hoosiers and millions of other vulnerable citizens across the country — is a shared state/federal responsibility.

Along with 16 other attorneys general, Attorney General Rokita expressed strong support for the “STOP FRAUD in Medicaid Act” in a letter to key members of Congress.

“Federal funding is unnecessarily restricted from being used by MFCUs to investigate and prosecute instances of Medicaid beneficiary fraud, also known as Medicaid recipient fraud,” the letter states. “This legislation empowers states to address fraud at every level of the program — not just among providers, but also among those who would unlawfully exploit the system for personal gain.”

The Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General found that in 2025, MFCUs recovered $4.64 for every dollar spent by states and the federal government to operate the units.

For fiscal year 2025, almost $2 billion was recovered nationally from criminal and civil cases combined — even with states lacking the ability to pursue recipient welfare fraud. MFCU convictions led to exclusions of 900 individuals and entities from federal health care programs.

You can read the letter to congressional leaders here.