A major federal anti-fraud operation descended on Columbus, Ohio, on Thursday as Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche and Dr. Mehmet Oz, administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, announced a coordinated crackdown following a Daily Wire investigation into alleged Medicaid fraud in the state.
At a joint press conference, officials announced that 49 home health care firms have been suspended, most concentrated in areas highlighted by the investigation. One company was raided Thursday morning, according to Dr. Oz.
The operation came one day after the House Oversight Committee held a hearing spotlighting the Daily Wire's reporting on Medicaid fraud. Task force chairman Brandon Gill questioned witnesses about alleged connections between fraudulent billing and refugee communities in Ohio.
Dr. Oz addressed those community connections directly at the press conference.
"This is a Mecca for Somalian populations, it's a hub for the Bhutanese and Nepalese," Oz said. "We were naive to think that practices that are common in other parts of the world wouldn't follow them here."
What the Left Is Saying
Democratic lawmakers have broadly supported anti-fraud efforts but expressed concerns about framing that links fraud to specific ethnic communities.
Congresswoman Jasmine Jackson, a member of the House Oversight Committee, said in a statement that "fraud is fraud regardless of who commits it, and we should pursue all perpetrators equally under the law." She added that she was "troubled by rhetoric that could cast suspicion on entire immigrant communities who are following the rules."
Progressive advocacy groups have echoed those concerns. The Ohio Justice Collaborative issued a statement noting that "targeting specific ethnic communities for scrutiny based on the actions of a few individuals sets a dangerous precedent" and called for "equitable enforcement that doesn't disproportionately affect law-abiding citizens.
Some Democrats have also questioned whether the scale of the federal response matches the scope of the problem. State Representative Deena Lichtenberger noted that Ohio has an existing Medicaid fraud control unit, asking why federal intervention was necessary beyond supporting state efforts already underway.
What the Right Is Saying
Republican officials have largely praised the operation as a necessary crackdown on abuse of public programs.
House Oversight Committee Chairman Brandon Gill, who chairs the anti-fraud task force, called it "exactly what this task force was designed to do." He said the investigation had uncovered "systemic exploitation" that required federal resources beyond what states alone could provide.
Vice President J.D. Vance, who co-chairs the task force alongside Andrew Ferguson, released a statement saying the operation demonstrated the administration was "serious about protecting taxpayers and ensuring that benefits go to those who need them, not criminals."
Conservative commentators have been more pointed in their analysis. The Federalist published coverage emphasizing what it called "the scale of fraud being uncovered" and arguing that the investigation validated concerns about program integrity in federal health care spending.
Some Republican strategists have framed the operation as a broader message about immigration policy, noting that several cases involved foreign nationals.
What the Numbers Show
The scope of Thursday's announcements was significant. Officials announced $30 million in alleged Medicaid fraud tied to non-existent autism care services, prosecuted by U.S. Attorney Dominick Gerace for the Southern District of Ohio. Assistant Attorney General Colin McDonald said Ohio's attorney general would announce an $11 million enforcement action from the state's Medicaid fraud control unit.
Five individuals from Ghana have been charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering in connection with alleged romance scams targeting elderly victims, according to U.S. Attorney David Tuppler for the Northern District of Ohio. Officials displayed seized luxury vehicles at the press conference that they said were purchased with fraudulent proceeds.
In a separate action, Andrew Ferguson announced that Hawaii's Medicaid fraud control unit had been decertified after producing "not a single indictment of a fraudster from 2021 through 2026." He called it "a near-certain sign that nobody was even looking" at potential fraud in the state.
The task force has now conducted operations in multiple states, though officials did not provide total figures for fraud amounts or prosecutions across all jurisdictions. The Daily Wire investigation, which prompted Thursday's Ohio operation, had focused on concentrations of home health care facilities in specific neighborhoods.
The Bottom Line
Thursday's operation represents one of the most visible federal anti-fraud deployments since the task force was established. The administration's decision to bring top officials including the Acting Attorney General to Ohio for a press conference signals the priority placed on this initiative.
The focus on refugee communities has drawn both praise from those who say fraud patterns warrant specific attention and criticism from those concerned about ethnic profiling. Legal experts note that enforcement actions must ultimately be based on individual conduct rather than community characteristics to withstand constitutional scrutiny.
What happens next: The suspended home health firms face administrative hearings, and the criminal prosecutions announced Thursday will move through federal courts in Ohio. The task force has signaled it will expand operations to additional states, with Ferguson saying investigators would continue to "till every field and turn over every rock."