March 20, 2026
The Boost News
The Trump administration’s crackdown on so-called Medicaid “fraud” has been ramping up since the budget reconciliation law, passed in July 2025, reduced federal financial support to the Medicaid Program. Few claim that the program is entirely free of fraud, but the administration’s overly aggressive moves are already making access to Medicaid services more difficult for eligible people with disabilities.
To help track the attacks on this vital program, The Boost has created a brief timeline. It’s not meant to be definitive. Please feel free to reach out with any corrections or pertinent additions.
To start things off, here are two articles that give the attacks on Medicaid some context: Oz Escalates Medicaid Fraud Claims and The Minnesota Fraud Scandal and the Fallout, Explained.
TIMELINE
SEPT. 2022: The first arrests in a set of Minnesota Medicaid fraud cases.
DEC. 12 2024: FBI raids targeting two autism treatment providers in Minnesota.
DEC. 30, 2024: A video is posted by a conservative YouTuber, with help from Minnesota Republicans, “alleging widespread fraud in child care centers owned by members of the Somali community. A follow-up state investigation of the child care centers that were featured in the video [determines that all are] ‘operating as expected.'”
JULY 4, 2025: President Trump signs the budget reconciliation law, which reduces federal financial support to the Medicaid program. The Congressional Budget Office estimates the program will be cut by $326 billion over 10 years, and increase the number of people who are uninsured by 5.3 million in 2034.
The Arc points out that in reality, the law shifts to states and Medicaid beneficiaries’ “costs and administrative burdens that previously were financed by the federal government, making access to Medicaid services more difficult for eligible people with disabilities.”
FEB. 25, 2026: Trump administration announces Major Crackdown on Health Care Fraud with The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) opening investigations into several states’ Medicaid programs, citing potential fraud in Home and Community-Based Services (HCBS).
Additionally, CMS says it will look to stakeholders to provide input on additional ways the agency can tackle fraud prevention to help inform the development of a possible future rule under CMS’ Comprehensive Regulations to Uncover Suspicious Healthcare (CRUSH) initiative.
MARCH 3, 2026: House Committee on Energy & Commerce (E&C) leaders announce an expanded investigation into alleged nationwide Medicaid fraud, targeting 10 additional states. They send letters to 10 additional states to request information and documents on the actions each state is taking to strengthen Medicaid program integrity. [*Note: Read a response to these letters at the bottom of timeline.]
MARCH 9, 2026: The Consortium for Constituents with Disabilities submits a letter to members of the Senate and House of Representatives on the critical role and efficiency of HCBS in the lives of people with disabilities and older adults, and opposing the “continued attacks” on HCBS.
MARCH 16, 2026: Trump establishes the Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, to be led by Vice President JD Vance. Its mission: “Advise the President and coordinate government-wide efforts to combat widespread fraud, waste, and abuse in Federal benefit programs.”
MARCH 16, 2026: The non-profit KFF publishes an issue brief explaining the administration’s new approach to potential fraud, which involves deferring and withholding federal Medicaid payments when fraud is suspected, which “could have broad implications for states and enrollees.”
Medicaid, and so those we love and help care for, is under attack. Please keep an eye out for petitions to sign and advocacy groups to join.
*On March 15, 2026, Shasta Kearns Moore of the Medical Motherhood newsletter wrote a devastatingly personal look at the letter sent by E&C to her home state of Oregon, which she shares. I recommend you read Medicaid ‘Fraud’ Witch Hunt Begins in full, but here are some excerpts:
Kearns Moore writes that “those of us with these services understand intimately that we already live inside a system built around proving eligibility over and over again.
“In many American disability households, managing Medicaid compliance is an unpaid part-time job. … And yet our society and our public assistance programs ask them to spend time and energy proving their need and their worth over and over and over again. … All this for conditions that any doctor could tell you are lifelong.
“In a thousand ways, on a thousand different days, we are forced to answer the question: Do you deserve it? Do you deserve it? Do you deserve it?”