Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz is on a serious tear to root out fraud from Medicare. Fraud that has been embedded within this program for decades.
Minnesota was just the starting place, and thanks to the video exposés by YouTuber Nick Shirley, the story finally went national, gaining everyone's attention. Then Dr. Oz moved to California, and its hospice care fraud, among other areas of malfeasance. In regard to this particular brand of fraud, Dr. Oz compared Minnesota to California and said California is "the Varsity team."
Days after outing California, Dr. Oz found the same pattern of hospice fraud in Nevada.
Systematic hospice fraud in LA is spreading to Las Vegas. Seniors are harmed. Taxpayers are robbed. We are cracking down. pic.twitter.com/Og9EVSv7iV
— DrOzCMS (@DrOzCMS) February 5, 2026
Read More: SBA's Loeffler Suspends 111,620 California Businesses in $8.6 Billion Fraud Scam
Next in the crosshairs: the little colony of Maine, population 1.4 million. Dr. Oz took to X, posting this video, which outlines the findings from a Health and Human Services investigation of the state of Maine's books.
Dr. Oz began:
We might have another "Minnesota" on our hands.
Remember that state's program for children with autism, the one where Somali fraudsters set up fake treatment centers and stole millions of taxpayer dollars? Well the same thing appears to be happening: in Maine.
Two weeks ago, Health and Human Services investigators released a report on Maine's autism program in which they identified at least 45 million dollars in improper payments. But that's not all.
They learned that the program's payouts increased more than 50 percent in just four years. They found that treatment centers are clustered in small, geographic areas: just like they did in Minnesota.
They reviewed paperwork that was missing crucial information. Like whether the kids receiving these services had been properly diagnosed with autism in the first place. One hundred percent of the claims they examined had problems. And most troubling of all, they discovered that Maine had never conducted a statewide review of its autism program.
Once again, it looks like another governor left the cash register unattended, and criminals helped themselves to your hard-earned money.
Oh my. At this point, we don't need Nick Shirley or an exposé video. Americans hear "Medicare" and "fraud," and they immediately see red. The unmasking of the Somali fraud in Minnesota and Gov. Tim Walz's terrible response to it have ruined his political career. Should Maine get the same treatment, Gov. Janet Mills, who is running for the Democrat nomination to challenge Sen. Susan Collins (R) for her Senate seat, can kiss hers goodbye, too.
Oz continued:
Rest assured, we're going to get to the bottom of this. Today, we sent a letter to Governor Janet Mills and Maine's health commissioner, demanding more information about how they're preventing, identifying, and remediating fraud in the autism program, and other programs that have raised red flags. If we don't like what we see, CMS will work with Maine to put their house in order. And if we're not satisfied with their progress, we reserve the right to cut off payments entirely.
Dr. Oz and SBA Administrator Kelly Loeffler just shut off the money spigot in California, so this is no idle threat or phony red line. Dr. Oz attached the letter to ME Gov. Janet Mills and Health Commissioner Sara Gagné-Holmes to the X thread.
— DrOzCMS (@DrOzCMS) February 6, 2026
Oz concluded:
That's what it means to fight fraud, preserve program integrity, and to protect your taxpayer dollars. And that's we'll keep doing, every single day, here at CMS.
WATCH:
You’ve probably heard about Minnesota’s fraud problems. Maine also needs to clean up its act.
— DrOzCMS (@DrOzCMS) February 6, 2026
Last month, HHS investigators released a report that identified at least $45 million in improper payments to the state’s Medicaid-funded treatment program for children with autism.… pic.twitter.com/z0Mu542BNA
Dive Deeper: Trump Officials Face Troubling Response When They Go to MN to Look Into the Rampant Fraud
'The Varsity Team': California Medicare Fraud Puts Minnesota to Shame
Janet Mills and Sara Gagné-Holmes should be shaking in their boots. Mills is still fighting a losing battle against the Trump administration's Title IX regulations; it is doubtful she has the bandwidth or the budget to start a new battle with CMS. If Minnesota is any indication, she'll lose this one, along with any political future she thinks she may have.
Editor’s Note: The mainstream media isn't interested in the facts; they're only interested in attacking the president. Help us continue to get to the bottom of the massive blue-state fraud epidemic by supporting our truth-seeking journalism today.
Join RedState's VIP and use promo code FIGHT to receive 60% off your membership.







Join the conversation as a VIP Member