Hawaii mentioned at the 4:30 mark
PDF: HHS OIG Letter to Attorney General of Hawaii Re MFCU Oversight
RESPONSE: AG Claims 25 Medicaid Fraud Prosecutions Since 2021
JD Supra: HHS OIG Sends a Strong Warning to State Medicaid Fraud Control Units: Signals Aggressive Federal Oversight of State Medicaid Fraud Enforcement | Benesch - JDSupra
(Scroll down for 16 years of Hawaii Medicaid fraud stories)
Vance named California, Hawaii and New York as states that have 'completely not taken the fraud issue seriously' --
FOX: Vice President JD Vance warned Wednesday that states could lose federal funding if they fail to aggressively pursue Medicaid fraud, escalating the Trump administration’s pressure campaign on governors and state Medicaid officials.
"We are sending letters that will require them to show that they are effectively and aggressively prosecuting Medicaid fraud in their states. And if they do not, if they do not aggressively prosecute Medicaid fraud, we are going to turn off the money that goes to these anti-fraud units," Vance said during a fraud news conference Wednesday.
Vance said the federal government has provided states with "billions of dollars" for Medicaid Fraud Control Units and warned that funding could be cut off if states fail to comply with the crackdown. He pointed to states that have received billions of dollars in federal funding to protect against fraud but have yet to produce a conviction or indictment.
The warning came as the administration announced it is deferring $1.3 billion in Medicaid reimbursements from California and Vance accused the state of failing to take fraud seriously. California officials have disputed the administration’s claims.
NYP: JD Vance issues ultimatum to 50 states: Crack down on fraud or Trump admin will cut Medicaid funding “blocking $1.3 billion in reimbursements for care at 800 California hospices suspected of bilking taxpayers.”
CBS: We visited “ground zero” for hospice fraud: Los Angeles, California (March, 2026)
AP: Officials say California Medicaid funds to be deferred over suspected fraud
PBS: The Department of Health and Human Services' internal watchdog has sent letters to state attorneys general warning them to vigorously investigate possible fraud or risk losing federal money.
Hawaii AG: MEDICAID FRAUD CONTROL UNIT | Criminal Justice Division
SA: Vance singles out Hawaii as weak on Medicaid fraud policing | Honolulu Star-Advertiser "According to information submitted to the Legislature, Hawaii’s MFCU budget for the current fiscal year is $3.9 million, of which $976,489 is funded by the state as a 25% match, largely to pay for about 15 staff positions."
BACKGROUND--MEDICAID IN HAWAII
2026: VP Vance: Hawaii has 'not taken Medicaid fraud seriously'
2026: $35K Bribe: How Luke Donor and Caldwell Cronies Cashed In On City-Funded COVID Testing Program at Airport
2025: Supreme Court to Decide: Are HMSA Physician Contracts “oppressive, unconscionable, and unenforceable”?
2025: HMSA: AI Robot will be 'Single Source of Truth'
2025: 'Ohana Health Plan Launches Residential Program for Homeless Psych Treatment
2025: Hawaii AG Claims Victory--Sued to Overturn Trump Funding Freeze
2025: Hawaii Says Trump’s Medicaid Policy Is Harmful. They Can’t Prove It.
2025: Hawaii Assisted Living Costs Highest in USA
2025: How many people are receiving substance use treatment in Hawaii?
2025: Medical Malpractice? Hawaii 5th Worst
2025: Lawsuit by State Hospital Medical Director Details How Retaliation Games Keep Hospital Understaffed
2025: Supreme Court decision makes it easier for disabled students to sue school districts for bias
2025: DoH Coverup? Health Dep't Fines Hilo Medical Practice $2.19M for Minor Paperwork Violation
2024: CWS Called on Hawaii Home-School Mom
2024: Hawaii's Medicaid coverage for palliative care expected to save the state money
2024: Alaska and Hawaii Delegations Seek Medicare Reimbursement Flexibility for Rural Hospitals
2024: Reports show assisted suicide continues to grow in Hawaii
2024: Audit Exposes Widespread Payroll Cheating at State Hospital
2023: EMS lost $33M after failing to bill patients?
2023: Honolulu 'Equality' Score Jumps with Transgender 'Health' Benefits
2023: Queens Hospital Bum Flop Stays Full
2023: Maui Physician Charged with Unlawful Distribution of Hydrocodone
2022: 'Creating safe spaces for LGBTQ' -- DoE Signs Statewide K-12 Mental Tele-Health Contract
2022: Defamation trial begins in pregnancy porn promotion case
2022: Free Needles for Addicts: Hawaii Grade B for Hepatitis Elimination
2022: Despite plenty of potential cases, Hawaii lags in Medicaid fraud and abuse prosecutions
2022: Hawaii Supreme Court: Hawaii MDs Eligible for Enhanced Medicaid Payments
2022: Kaiser Hawaii Mental Health Accreditation Threatened
2022: How much profit are private labs earning from PCR testing?
2021: Elder Abuse: Hawaii Rankings Mixed
2021: NextHealth Fined $58K for Conducting COVID Testing
2021: Ethics: COVID Profiteering by DoH Employee
2021: How Many Deficiencies? 43 Hawaii Nursing Homes Ranked
2021: Hawaii Gives 1.18 million syringes to drug addicts
2021: $510K Fine for Yukio Okutsu Veterans Home
2020: Ethics: DoH Employee Fined $25K for Running Private Business on State Time
2020: Feds Bust DoH Lab Tech--Allegedly Making LSD During COVID outbreak
2020: Congress Restores Medicaid for COFA Citizens after 24 Years
2020: Hawaii: Obamacare Funnels Taxpayer Money To Cover Elective Abortions
2020: Hawaii Lowest Physician Medicare Acceptance Rate in USA
2020: Guam Ambulance Company Owners Sentenced to Prison for Their Roles in Medicare Ambulance Fraud Scheme
2020: Med Quest Junks Plan to Cancel 38,000 Kaiser Policies
2020: Hawaii Grade 'F' for Health Care Price Transparency Laws
2020: Ethics: HHSC Manager Retires, Goes to Work for Contractor
2020: Hawaii Medicaid Spending High, Quality Low
2020: DoH Orders Shutdown of Unlicensed Drug Treatment Centers
2019: DoH raids Two Unlicensed Care Homes
2019: Feds: Guam #1 for Medicare Ambulance Fraud
2019: Hawaii Doctors Least Likely to Accept Medicare
2019: Mental healthcare in Hawaii: Young minds at risk
2019: Feds Identify Hawaii's Six Worst Nursing Homes
2019: Patient Dumping Alleged at Adult Care Home
2019: DHS Audit: Significant Weaknesses and Deficiencies
2019: Health Department Audit: Material Weaknesses and Significant Deficiencies
2019: Medicaid Fraud: DHS Still Not Doing the Real Work
2019: Naming Names: Hawaii Politicians Profit from Sub-Minimum Wage Sweatshops for the Disabled
2019: Government-Funded Sweatshops: No Minimum Wage for Hawaii Disabled Workers
2019: SPED Parents Asked to Sign up for Medicaid
2018: $82K Per Bum: Hospitals Rake in $1.2B Treating Homeless Shelter-Refusers
2018: UH Study: Tweekers 15.1% of Emergency Room Traffic at Hawaii Hospital
2018: Medicaid waivers allowed for inpatient psychiatric treatment
2018: Years Later KOLEA System Still not 100% Compliant with Obamacare Requirements
2018: More Than 8 Cents of Each State Revenue Dollar Goes to Medicaid
2018: Report Ties Hawaii Youth Suicide Rate to HSTA Grab for HGEA Positions $100M/yr not billed
2018: Home Care Agencies must apply for State License
2018: Auditor Rips Health Department Oversight of Board and Care Homes
2018: How Medicare covers mental health
2017: US Senate Investigating Hawaii's Soaring Medicaid Costs
2017: Brian-Schatz-wants-to-put-you-on-Medicaid
2017: Hawaii: 22% of Medicare Patients got Opioids in 2016
2017: DOH fights lawsuit on their non-posting of inspection reports even as two bills in the Legislature again fund the posting
2017: Medicare Overbilling: Hawaii ranks 16th
2017: Hawaii most racially integrated state (Except Healthcare)
2016: Hawaii Marks Nation’s Sharpest Drop in Hospital Readmissions
2016: Hawaii Medicare: 50% of Payments to be on Incentive Plan
2016: Pay for Performance: Budget Busting "Incentives" in Medicare Reform
2016: Lawsuit: Compel Department of Health to post long term care home inspection reports
2016: Interior Dept. Worsening Bad Situation for COFA Migrants
2016: Feds: After Losing Millions, Hawaii Medicaid Fraud Control Finally Improving
2016: BBB: Hawaii Ranks #2 for Scams
2016: Tutu Bert’s House to serve Homeless Discharged from Queen’s Hospital
2015: Ige: Feds Secretly Declared Hawaii Health Connector 'Non-Compliant' in February
2015: Almost 80% of Hawaii Obamacare Enrollees Have Failed to Pay Premiums in 2015
2015: HHSC, DoH: Nineteen special funds and two trust funds did not meet criteria
2015: Medicare Penalizes Maui Memorial, Pali Momi, Wahiawa General over Safety Incidents
2015: Ouch! Mounting Medicare Cuts Hurt Hawaii Hospitals
2015: Some States Pay Doctors More to Treat Medicaid Patients
2015: Hawaii to Fill Medicaid Fee Shortfall for Six Months
2015: DHS Gives Medicaid Doctors Six-Month Reprieve from 48% Pay Cut
2015: New Medicaid Enrollees: Many Need Addiction Treatment
2015: ADHD in Hawaii: 70% on Prescription Drugs, 61% Get 'Behavioral Therapy'
2015: Hawaii Disability Roll 12.5% Growth in 5 Years
2015: Former charity director indicted for theft
2015: Supreme Court to take up case involving alleged retaliation by powerful state senator
2015: Feds Demand their Money Back from Dysfunctional Hawaii Medicaid Fraud Unit
2014: Audit: Hawaii Medicaid Loses $67M/yr Due to Fraud, Waste, and Abuse
2014: Briefing: Doctors Discuss Challenge of Working With Medicaid
2014: New director takes over Hawaii’s troubled Obamacare exchange
2014: LA Times: Hawaii Health Connector Refused to Cough up Secret Budget
2014: Medicaid Waiver Approval Can Take Four Years
2014: Quarter of Hawaii’s population now on Medicaid
2014: With Asset Test Gone, Thousands Pile into Hawaii Medicaid
2014: Kaiser: 57% of Hawaii Uninsured Eligible for Medicaid
2013: Dentist Sentenced for Medicaid Fraud
2013: State Paying Xerox $54M to Check Obamacare EHR Fraud
2013: Mental Health: Can Reform Solve Hawaii’s Homeless, Prison and Unfunded Liability Problems?
2013: Clinic Owner: With Medicare and Medicaid, ‘Your Practice May Not Last Long’
2013: Open Letter: Hawaii MDs Challenge “Severely Dysfunctional” Medicaid Program
2013: Hawaii Welfare Recipients 2nd Healthiest in US: 75% Not Disabled
2012: Hirono-Refuses-to-Answer-for-Actions-Harmful-to-Hawaii
2012: Hire the Handicapped? Hawaii One of Only 5 States Without 'Medicaid Buy-In'
2012: Hawaii Medicaid Spends Least on Long Term Care
2011: Medicaid: Abercrombie sides with Big Business
2011: Obamacare: HMSA announces statewide scheme to cut costs
2011: Pay-for-Performance in Medicare Could Do More Harm Than Good
2011: DHS: Thousands of ghost names on Hawaii Medicare, Medicaid Rolls
2010: $400M Medicare/Medicaid scam run by parent of Ohana Health Plan