Photo: Al Drago / Getty Images News / Getty Images
Photo: Getty Images
Senior staff from Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield’s office attended Vice President JD Vance’s Task Force on Fraud roundtable at the White House today, with a clear message: Oregon fights Medicaid fraud because it’s the right thing to do for taxpayers and patients. Our results speak for themselves - fighting fraud should always be a bipartisan effort and something we can all agree on. This is an important conversation to have. Notably, several Democratic-led states were either not invited or turned away at the door.
“Oregon has spent decades fighting Medicaid fraud and we have the record to prove it,” said Attorney General Rayfield. “In just the past few years, our Medicaid Fraud Control Unit has secured hundreds criminal convictions. We will continue to hold anyone accountable who steals from Oregonians.”
Oregon’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit made up of a small (20 FTE) multi-disciplinary team of attorneys, investigators, auditors, data analysts and a nurse has been fighting fraud for forty (40) years. Since 2021, the Oregon MFCU has secured over 168 convictions and recovered over $58 million. The federal government has commended the work of state Medicaid Fraud Control Units in the Medicaid Fraud Control Units Annual Report: Fiscal Year 2025, OEI-09-26-00140. Last year, MFCUs nationally returned nearly $4.64 for every dollar invested by state and federal governments – nearly $2 billion back to taxpayers.
Oregon’s team engaged directly with the task force today on what resources and federal support states need to keep that work going strong. This roundtable conversation comes after the receipt of this letter from the HHS Office of the Inspector General that was sent to all 53 Medicaid Fraud Control Units and Attorneys General.
Attorney General Rayfield and 23 other attorneys general also sent a multistate letter to Vice President Vance today urging the administration to protect the successful federal-state Medicaid fraud enforcement partnership. The coalition raised concerns in the letter of the significant reduction in U.S. Department of Health and Human Services personnel charged with investigating health care fraud undermining the very enforcement the task force says it wants to strengthen. Both HHS-OIG and U.S. Attorney staff typically focused on combatting health care fraud, have been reportedly diverted to immigration and other national initiatives.
Source: Oregon Attorney General's Office