Multibillion-dollar Medicare fraud threatens taxpayer dollars and Americans' personal identities, government officials warn.
Dr. Mehmet Oz, administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, estimates that Medicare fraud costs around $100 billion annually, with the majority of the waste and abuse happening since the COVID pandemic.
Medicare fraud can take many forms, including billing for services never provided, overcharging for medical equipment, using stolen patient or doctor information, or performing unnecessary procedures, according to the U.S. Government Accountability Office.
As the government ramps up efforts to combat fraud, significant savings have been achieved, with $41.9 billion in Medicare program integrity savings in 2025, a 59% increase from $26.3 billion in 2024.
Removing corruption from the healthcare system will have a particularly significant impact on seniors, who are often targeted by scammers, Oz explained.
"So much of the fraud is perpetrated against them," Oz said, noting that scammers trick seniors into giving up their Medicare beneficiary numbers, which can be used for illegitimate purposes.
Oz advised seniors to protect themselves by not giving out their Medicare beneficiary number, not answering unknown phone calls, and not sharing personal information.
Removing fraud could "double the life expectancy of the trust fund that makes all this possible," Oz predicted, adding that this would benefit not only current recipients but also future generations.
"If we take the fraud out, we could double the life expectancy, which means you, your kids, your kids' kids ... they could all benefit from this beautiful safety net program," Oz said.
