Daily Wire Medicaid Investigation Triggers A $1.4 BILLION Spending Freeze, Warning To States

After a bombshell Daily Wire investigation into waste, fraud, and abuse tied to the government-funded home health care industry, the Trump administration moved on Wednesday to freeze over a billion dollars’ worth of spending and is warning states to root out fraud or pay the price.

The White House fraud task force announced on Wednesday morning that not a single new home health care company would be enrolled in Medicare while the Trump administration probes the program. Around $1.4 billion in funding for home health care and hospice providers has been paused. 

“Widespread fraud has gone on for far too ​long. But under the Vice President’s task force we are finally putting a stop to the massive scale fraudsters ripping off the ​American people once and for all,” said a spokesman for Vice President JD Vance. 

The announcement comes days after Daily Wire reporter Luke Rosiak published a series of stories documenting how Ohio spent a billion dollars on home health care in 2024. Home health care services can include things like doing “homemaking” and “chores” for family members. 

Vance, who runs the fraud task force, is set to warn states to crack down on fraud or risk losing federal Medicaid funding, the Wall Street Journal reported. The federal government provides over 60% of Medicaid funding for most states, and the Trump administration is expected to start an audit on Wednesday of state Medicaid Fraud Control Units to ensure they are doing enough to combat fraud. 

These shocking allegations, if true, show why the Fraud Task Force’s work is so important. I’m directing the task force to look into it and take immediate action to prosecute any fraudsters involved and stop all further payments as appropriate. https://t.co/dg9prv9mYz

— JD Vance (@JDVance) May 4, 2026

“Your failure to do your job,” Department of Health and Human Services Inspector General Thomas Bell wrote in a letter to the states, “has put all of your state’s Medicaid funds in jeopardy.”

The plan was developed by Vance and Federal Trade Commission Chair Andrew Ferguson, who is working with Vance on the task force.

“The American taxpayer is tired of states receiving billions of dollars to police fraud and elder abuse and instead using that money for no-show jobs,” FTC director of public affairs Joe Simonson said. “We cannot have a country with entitlements built on fraud and theft. Our most vulnerable are suffering.”

Vance vowed to investigate home health care in response to The Daily Wire’s “Medicaid Millions” series on Ohio, which showed that just seven buildings in Columbus housed 288 home health care businesses that billed taxpayers more than $250 million. Columbus is home to one of the largest African immigrant populations in the country.

“These shocking allegations, if true, show why the Fraud Task Force’s work is so important. I’m directing the task force to look into it and take immediate action to prosecute any fraudsters involved and stop all further payments as appropriate,” he posted, sharing a thread from Rosiak detailing the uncovered fraud.

During the pause of new approvals of home health care and hospices funded by Medicare, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services will audit the home health care system, which is fully funded and administered by the federal government. States with funding from both the federal government and the states administer the Medicaid home health program. 

On Tuesday, the House Oversight Committee tasked Rep. Brandon Gill (R-TX) with leading a new task force on Defending Constitutional Rights and Exposing Institutional Abuses. Gill will focus the task force’s efforts on investigating home health care and Medicaid in Ohio in the wake of The Daily Wire’s reporting. 

“The reports of Ohio’s Medicaid fraud scandal are appalling — and we’re just uncovering the tip of the iceberg of the fraud and swindling of millions of American dollars,” Gill told The Daily Wire. “My Task Force is demanding answers and transparency from the Director of the Ohio Department of Medicaid, as we will continue to press those who need to account for their abuse of American taxpayers.”