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Trump Admin Flags Billions in Medicare Claims as Fraud Crackdown Intensifies

The Trump administration says a dramatic increase in Medicare claims for tissue and organ transplants has led to a nationwide fraud crackdown that is blocking millions of dollars in suspicious billing. According to Fox…

Andrew PowellJul 8, 20263 min read

Dr. Mehmet Oz Fraud Medicaid U.S. News

The Trump administration says a dramatic increase in Medicare claims for tissue and organ transplants has led to a nationwide Fraud crackdown that is blocking millions of dollars in suspicious billing.

According to Fox News, new figures released Wednesday show Medicare claims for allografts, or tissue and organ transplants, climbed from approximately $200 million in 2019 to $14.4 billion in 2025.

Administration officials said the 7,100% increase prompted a closer review by the White House Anti-Fraud Task Force and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

CMS, led by Administrator Mehmet Oz, said it identified about 4,200 suspicious transplant claims totaling $224 million through May. Since March, the agency has denied 96% of claims submitted in that category.

Speaking in Milwaukee, Oz said the sharp rise in billing posed a significant financial threat.

"That's a lot of money," he said. "And that bankrupts not just hospital systems and physician groups, but it causes major problems across the entire system."

The administration also announced new enforcement actions involving Durable Medical Equipment, including wheelchairs, walkers and hospital beds.

CMS said it suspended payments to 102 suppliers and revoked Medicare billing privileges for another 725 suppliers accused of filing improper claims.

Those suppliers accounted for 8.6% of all Medicare-funded Durable Medical Equipment providers in 2025.

According to CMS, investigators found claims for equipment that patients did not need, equipment that was more expensive than what physicians ordered, and equipment that was never delivered.

A spokesperson for Vice President JD Vance's office credited new restrictions and enforcement efforts for reducing Fraud in the program.

"In just six months, the task force has effectively wiped out Durable Medical Equipment Fraud in America," the spokesperson said, pointing to a moratorium on new DME suppliers and coordinated enforcement by the Department of Justice and the Department of Health and Human Services.

Oz said the administration intends to continue pursuing fraudulent providers.

"Thanks to the whole-of-government approach spearheaded by the White House Anti-Fraud Task Force, we stopped nearly $220 million in fraudulent skin substitute claims and suspended or revoked billing privileges for over 800 DME suppliers," he said.

President Donald Trump created the Anti-Fraud Task Force through an executive order in May and appointed Vance to lead it.

The effort has already resulted in several high-profile prosecutions.

In May, the Justice Department charged 15 people in Minnesota over more than $90 million in alleged Fraud tied to state-funded assistance programs, including what federal officials described as the largest autism Fraud case ever brought by the federal government.

Trump praised the initiative in a June Truth Social post, writing that billions of dollars in Fraud are being uncovered and that the administration's work is "just started."

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