Congressman Yakym calls out $60 billion of fraud

Tuesday, Congressman Rudy Yakym (IN-02) questioned witnesses during a Ways and Means Committee hearing examining Medicare fraud, improper payments, and the tools available to combat waste, fraud, and abuse in the program.

“Improper payments are irresponsible and a blatant waste of taxpayer dollars,” Rep. Yakym said. “Medicare loses $60 billion to waste, fraud, and abuse every year - including an estimated $3.5 billion in fraudulent payments for home health and hospice services in Los Angeles County alone. These are real dollars stolen from real seniors and taxpayers. We need to do more to uncover fraud, hold perpetrators accountable, and stop it from occurring in the first place.”

During the hearing, Rep. Yakym pressed witnesses on the scope of Medicare fraud and why states like California have become fraud hotspots. He also questioned whether the Administration is properly focused on addressing the problem and pushed for answers on whether federal law or regulation prevents CMS from deploying the same real-time claims analytics and predictive AI tools that Medicare Advantage plans and private insurers routinely use to stop fraud before payments go out the door.

 Rep. Yakym also highlighted the Trump Administration's National Health Fraud Takedown, which resulted in the arrest of 324 defendants responsible for schemes totaling $14.6 billion. He emphasized that combating Medicare fraud is essential to protecting seniors, supporting providers, and being responsible stewards of taxpayer dollars.

 Watch Rep. Yakym’s full line of questioning HERE.