NEW YORK (AP) 鈥� President Donald Trump’s administration is expanding its crackdown on state Medicaid programs to New York, launching a fraud probe in the state a week after it said it was in Minnesota over similar accusations.
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator announced Tuesday that the Trump administration identified concerning trends in New York鈥檚 Medicaid program and demanded that state officials provide details about their handling of fraud, waste and abuse within 30 days or risk deferred payments.
鈥淗eart surgeons are trained to look at the numbers,鈥� Oz, a former celebrity heart surgeon, said in a video on Tuesday. 鈥淩ight now, the numbers coming out of New York鈥檚 Medicaid program don鈥檛 add up.鈥�
The new investigation is part of an administration-wide initiative to address fraud around the country, which federal officials say is needed to rein in runaway spending and protect taxpayers. With many midterm voters concerned about affordability, Trump has ramped up those efforts, announcing that Vice President JD Vance would help balance the nation鈥檚 budget by spearheading a national 鈥渨ar on fraud.鈥�
Targeted have decried the Republican administration’s moves as politically motivated and potentially disastrous for the millions of people who rely on the health care safety net for low-income Americans.
New York’s Democratic governor says the move is politically targeted
In a letter to New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, a Democrat, Oz wrote that the state’s spending levels combined with 鈥渟erious concerns鈥� about its oversight of certain Medicaid services demand 鈥渋mmediate investigation, corrective action and enhanced transparency.鈥�
The letter flagged specific areas of concern, including a high proportion of New York’s Medicaid beneficiaries receiving personal care services related to daily living activities like bathing, grooming and meal preparation.
New York鈥檚 soaring Medicaid costs have long vexed the state鈥檚 governors and were a top priority of Gov. Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat who grappled for years with the program’s spiraling price tag as residents age and receive additional benefits. The state’s program, which cost $115.6 billion in the 2025 fiscal year, provides health care for about 1 in 3 New Yorkers and spends more per person for care than Medicaid programs in any other state.
Hochul has also tried to rein in costs through an overhaul of how a home health care program is administered.
Asked Wednesday by reporters about Oz鈥檚 letter, Hochul said the Trump administration is targeting a Democrat-led state for political reasons but added, 鈥淚 will have to stand up and show them the truth and show them the facts, that they鈥檙e wrong. When there is fraud I will help them fight it.鈥�
Hochul’s office said the fraud investigation was an attempt by the Trump administration to rip health care away from everyday New Yorkers. CMS said in an emailed statement that ensuring states comply with federal rules is 鈥渁 core part of the agency鈥檚 federal oversight role.鈥�
New York investigation follows CMS action in other blue states
The New York investigation comes less than a week after CMS halted Medicaid payments to Minnesota over fraud concerns. Oz said the money would be delivered only after Minnesota implements 鈥渁 comprehensive corrective action plan.”
The administration had previously cited involving day care centers run by Minneapolis-area Somali residents as a reason for a massive federal enforcement surge there. Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, a Democrat, called the new funding freeze 鈥渢argeted retribution.鈥�
Minnesota on Monday over the deferred payments. The state is also appealing CMS announced in early January.
Earlier this year, Oz announced that CMS had sent letters to Democratic governors in Maine and California demanding more information or corrective action on alleged fraud in government health programs in those states.
In the days after receiving Oz’s letter last month, Maine Gov. Janet Mills said she wouldn’t be intimidated by the administration and called the request 鈥渁 political attack.” The 30-day timeline he gave her to respond or risk losing Medicaid payments is set to expire this week. A spokesperson for Mills didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
Maine is facing a political attack from a president who uses allegations of fraud as a pretense to send ICE and other weaponized federal agents into states led by Democrats with devastating consequences.
The Trump administration has sought to withhold funding from Democratic-led states at least two other times in recent months citing fraud concerns. It happened with and other social services programs in Minnesota, New York and three other states and with in 22 states that have declined to hand over data that the federal government says is needed to catch fraud.
In both those cases, judges have ruled that the money must continue to flow for now.
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Associated Press writer Geoff Mulvihill in Philadelphia contributed to this report.
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