Mehmet Oz made claim about audits, but experts say he misidentified routine administrative errors

The administrator for the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), Mehmet Oz, recently claimed that an audit revealed “more than $1bn of federal taxpayer dollars were being spent on funding Medicaid for illegal immigrants”, but experts say the audits were unrelated to immigration, and that rhetoric like this could make immigrant families – regardless of legal status – afraid to seek necessary medical care.

Leo Cuello, a research professor at Georgetown University’s Center for Children and Families, noted that he has not “seen what this audit is”, but “based on the reporting, it appears that it is related to administrative errors in state claiming for matching funds, which is a relatively common occurrence, and which CMS monitors closely as they should”.

For example, it is common for states to ask for federal reimbursement for programs that are supposed to receive state funding exclusively, such as Meals on Wheels. Cuello said these types of audits are “the most vanilla and normal thing that happens all the time. States are constantly sending CMS claims, and CMS is constantly reviewing whether or not they’re paying something properly.” Reporting from Oregon Live and KFF confirms that the audits were routine.