{"id":656,"date":"2026-07-21T20:39:12","date_gmt":"2026-07-21T20:39:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/americanindustryreview.com\/?p=656"},"modified":"2026-07-21T20:39:12","modified_gmt":"2026-07-21T20:39:12","slug":"voters-are-split-as-gop-focuses-on-fraud","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/americanindustryreview.com\/?p=656","title":{"rendered":"Voters are split as GOP focuses on fraud"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Republicans in Congress have spent the past year sounding an alarm over waste, fraud and abuse in government health care programs with a midterm-focused message that cutting fraud will help lower consumers\u2019 costs.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Read more Republicans in Congress probe history museum, echoing Trump<\/a><\/p>\n

While many voters say that soaring health care costs are a top issue for the approaching elections, new polling shows they\u2019re largely split along party lines on whether fraud is as important.<\/p>\n

Republicans have spent a good portion of their limited legislative time on it, holding more than a dozen hearings or markups, including one this week. The issue rose to prominence during last year\u2019s reconciliation process \u2014 GOP lawmakers pitched Medicaid spending cuts as eliminating waste of taxpayer dollars alongside a mission to tighten the government\u2019s wallet in general.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe big thing is the fraud,\u201d Brett Guthrie, R-Ky., chair of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, said in a brief interview earlier this month. \u201cHow do we give more tools to the executive branch to find more fraud, so we can actually go after people with fraud.\u201d He said that the committee\u2019s work on another issue, health care price transparency, dovetails with this effort by exposing practices that keep consumers in the dark.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Democrats on the whole have been critical, voicing concerns that the opposing party is using the issue as a basis to make cuts to health care programs.\u00a0<\/p>\n

That divide may be at the heart of the new polling by health policy research organization KFF, which found that 55 percent of Republicans say that it\u2019s \u201cextremely important\u201d for candidates to talk about the issue of fraud in government health programs. That number drops to 34 percent for Democrats and 42 percent for independents.\u00a0<\/p>\n

As for health care costs in general, 60 percent of Democrats, 55 percent of independents and 37 percent of Republicans say the issue was \u201cextremely important\u201d for candidates to discuss. The results come as the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services estimates that national health care expenditures rose more than 7 percent last year.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The poll also found that voters, regardless of party affiliation, were more likely to perceive fraud as an issue in other government programs than those focused on health. Still, about 40 percent of voters perceived there to be a significant amount of fraud in Medicaid, 36 percent within Medicare and 29 percent in the Affordable Care Act marketplaces.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cEven though voters do believe that there\u2019s fraud in Medicaid, most don\u2019t want fraud prevention to come at the cost of access to care for people, and they don\u2019t think that rooting it out would reduce their own costs,\u201d Audrey Kearney, a senior survey analyst for the Public Opinion and Survey Research Program at KFF, said in an interview.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Democrats have seized on this as the Trump administration has cut off some funding to predominantly Democratic-led states.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re just using that as an excuse to cut all health care programs for the average person,\u201d Rep. Frank Pallone Jr., D-N.J., said in a brief interview earlier this week. \u201cThey\u2019re being fake about it. They act like that\u2019s the problem, that isn\u2019t the problem.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Guthrie said that the recent focus on fraud will \u201cabsolutely not\u201d result in a cut to people\u2019s health care, saying that people should be concerned with how their tax dollars are being used.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But the administration has charted its own path. Earlier this year, the Health and Human Services Department tried, then recanted, halting child care and family assistance grants to some states over fraud concerns, and\u00a0CMS has withheld $259 million in Medicaid funding\u00a0from Minnesota and $1.3 billion from California, which drew backlash from Democrats who said that the funding holds were politically motivated.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Hospice, medical equipment<\/h2>\n

In recent months, key health committees have marked up several bills seeking to give Medicare more tools to find and root out fraud.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Ways and Means Committee\u00a0marked up a slate this spring, including one that\u00a0would allow Medicare to more frequently survey hospice centers, which advanced\u00a027-16. Democrats on the panel argued\u00a0that it doesn\u2019t get at the root cause of fraud in\u00a0hospice care.<\/p>\n

Read more Rotunda tribute and Cathedral funeral announced for Lindsey Graham<\/a><\/p>\n

Democrats largely voted against another\u00a0bill that\u00a0would give Medicare more tools to screen for improper claims for medical equipment, saying it mandates provisions like electronic claims filing that are already in practice. It advanced 25-19.<\/p>\n

Other actions have been less focused on legislation, drawing an even more partisan divisions. Energy and Commerce in June held a hearing\u00a0with the state Medicaid directors for New York, California, Minnesota and Ohio, where they were forced to defend their anti-fraud efforts amid the GOP crackdown.<\/p>\n

\u201cUnfortunately, this is a staged performance to target blue states, not a genuine fraud investigation,\u201d Rep. Diana DeGette, D-Colo., ranking member of the panel\u2019s Health Subcommittee, said during the hearing. \u201cIt\u2019s exemplary of how this whole administration works and how hollow the administration\u2019s focus on fraud really is.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

These hearings are expected to continue. On Tuesday, the House Oversight and Government Reform Health Care and Financial Services Subcommittee is holding one on possible fraud stemming from the rapid growth of skin substitute care.<\/p>\n

Republicans\u2019 efforts are moving forward in concert with moves by the Trump administration. The Health and Human Services Department\u2019s inspector general said in a\u00a0semiannual report\u00a0that an investigation of fraud within Medicare led to potential savings of $5.6 billion and excluded more than 1,200 individuals and entities from the program.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Hard to pinpoint<\/h2>\n

Zach Gaumer, vice president for health policy at the Bipartisan Policy Center, said in an interview that it\u2019s much more likely for health fraud to be committed by the health care providers themselves rather than individuals.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is not likely to be a single beneficiary patient who is the mastermind of fraud in a given state,\u201d Gaumer said. \u201cIt is more likely to be the provider that is taking money from the payer inappropriately.\u201d<\/p>\n

The KFF poll found that voters are able to make that distinction, with about half attributing fraud to the providers. But about 30 percent of respondents said they don\u2019t know which parties are primarily responsible.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Part of the challenge to address fraud, Gaumer said, is that it\u2019s hard to pinpoint in the current U.S. health care system. That\u2019s because payers like Medicare, Medicaid and commercial insurers are removed from the care delivery itself. Medicare in particular works with a large volume of providers to maximize the availability of care for beneficiaries, and that comes with a greater risk, Gaumer said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s very hard for a payer to know exactly what\u2019s happening behind the scenes, and that\u2019s at the crux of the problem here,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Many observers see the fraud push as a natural extension of efforts involving COVID-19 pandemic funds, in large part due to fraud schemes within the relief programs.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Ryan Long, the director of congressional relations and a senior research fellow at Paragon Health Institute, said in an interview that following the pandemic, policymakers were more attuned to making sure taxpayer dollars were going to the right place. \u201cThere was just so much that you couldn\u2019t ignore,\u201d Long said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Gaumer added that anytime services are expanded, like they were during the pandemic, cases of fraud tend to rise.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a natural course of growth and retraction, I believe,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd that\u2019s why we see this cyclically.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more Competing bills aim for elusive changes to drug discount program<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Republicans in Congress have spent the past year sounding an alarm over waste, fraud and abuse in government health care programs with a midterm-focused message that cutting fraud will help lower consumers\u2019 costs.  While many voters say that soaring health care costs are a top issue for the approaching elections, new polling shows they\u2019re largely […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":655,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-656","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-policy"],"yoast_head":"\nVoters are split as GOP focuses on fraud - American Industry Review<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/americanindustryreview.com\/?p=656\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Voters are split as GOP focuses on fraud - American Industry Review\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Republicans in Congress have spent the past year sounding an alarm over waste, fraud and abuse in government health care programs with a midterm-focused message that cutting fraud will help lower consumers\u2019 costs.  While many voters say that soaring health care costs are a top issue for the approaching elections, new polling shows they\u2019re largely […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/americanindustryreview.com\/?p=656\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"American Industry Review\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-07-21T20:39:12+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanindustryreview.com\\\/?p=656#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanindustryreview.com\\\/?p=656\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanindustryreview.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/f31b66192ea99275704b1c4c1195d2bd\"},\"headline\":\"Voters are split as GOP focuses on fraud\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-21T20:39:12+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanindustryreview.com\\\/?p=656\"},\"wordCount\":1268,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanindustryreview.com\\\/?p=656#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanindustryreview.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/2ef1dfe8eace248d6016a2417f893a9b.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Policy\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/americanindustryreview.com\\\/?p=656#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanindustryreview.com\\\/?p=656\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanindustryreview.com\\\/?p=656\",\"name\":\"Voters are split as GOP focuses on fraud - American Industry Review\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanindustryreview.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanindustryreview.com\\\/?p=656#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanindustryreview.com\\\/?p=656#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanindustryreview.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/2ef1dfe8eace248d6016a2417f893a9b.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-21T20:39:12+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanindustryreview.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/f31b66192ea99275704b1c4c1195d2bd\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanindustryreview.com\\\/?p=656#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/americanindustryreview.com\\\/?p=656\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanindustryreview.com\\\/?p=656#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanindustryreview.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/2ef1dfe8eace248d6016a2417f893a9b.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanindustryreview.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/2ef1dfe8eace248d6016a2417f893a9b.jpg\",\"width\":1620,\"height\":1080,\"caption\":\"UNITED STATES - JUNE 3: Full committee Chairman Brett Guthrie, R-Ky., speaks during the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade hearing titled \u201cExamining Legislation to Establish a Federal Comprehensive Privacy and Data Security Law,\u201d in Rayburn building on Wednesday, June 3, 2026. (Tom Williams\\\/CQ Roll Call)\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanindustryreview.com\\\/?p=656#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanindustryreview.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Voters are split as GOP focuses on fraud\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanindustryreview.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanindustryreview.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"American Industry Review\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanindustryreview.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanindustryreview.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/f31b66192ea99275704b1c4c1195d2bd\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/americanindustryreview.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanindustryreview.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Voters are split as GOP focuses on fraud - American Industry Review","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/americanindustryreview.com\/?p=656","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Voters are split as GOP focuses on fraud - American Industry Review","og_description":"Republicans in Congress have spent the past year sounding an alarm over waste, fraud and abuse in government health care programs with a midterm-focused message that cutting fraud will help lower consumers\u2019 costs.  While many voters say that soaring health care costs are a top issue for the approaching elections, new polling shows they\u2019re largely […]","og_url":"https:\/\/americanindustryreview.com\/?p=656","og_site_name":"American Industry Review","article_published_time":"2026-07-21T20:39:12+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"6 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/americanindustryreview.com\/?p=656#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/americanindustryreview.com\/?p=656"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/americanindustryreview.com\/#\/schema\/person\/f31b66192ea99275704b1c4c1195d2bd"},"headline":"Voters are split as GOP focuses on fraud","datePublished":"2026-07-21T20:39:12+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/americanindustryreview.com\/?p=656"},"wordCount":1268,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/americanindustryreview.com\/?p=656#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/americanindustryreview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/2ef1dfe8eace248d6016a2417f893a9b.jpg","articleSection":["Policy"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/americanindustryreview.com\/?p=656#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/americanindustryreview.com\/?p=656","url":"https:\/\/americanindustryreview.com\/?p=656","name":"Voters are split as GOP focuses on fraud - American Industry Review","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/americanindustryreview.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/americanindustryreview.com\/?p=656#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/americanindustryreview.com\/?p=656#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/americanindustryreview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/2ef1dfe8eace248d6016a2417f893a9b.jpg","datePublished":"2026-07-21T20:39:12+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/americanindustryreview.com\/#\/schema\/person\/f31b66192ea99275704b1c4c1195d2bd"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/americanindustryreview.com\/?p=656#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/americanindustryreview.com\/?p=656"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/americanindustryreview.com\/?p=656#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/americanindustryreview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/2ef1dfe8eace248d6016a2417f893a9b.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/americanindustryreview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/2ef1dfe8eace248d6016a2417f893a9b.jpg","width":1620,"height":1080,"caption":"UNITED STATES - JUNE 3: Full committee Chairman Brett Guthrie, R-Ky., speaks during the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade hearing titled \u201cExamining Legislation to Establish a Federal Comprehensive Privacy and Data Security Law,\u201d in Rayburn building on Wednesday, June 3, 2026. (Tom Williams\/CQ Roll Call)"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/americanindustryreview.com\/?p=656#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/americanindustryreview.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Voters are split as GOP focuses on fraud"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/americanindustryreview.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/americanindustryreview.com\/","name":"American Industry Review","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/americanindustryreview.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/americanindustryreview.com\/#\/schema\/person\/f31b66192ea99275704b1c4c1195d2bd","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/americanindustryreview.com"],"url":"https:\/\/americanindustryreview.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/americanindustryreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/656","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/americanindustryreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/americanindustryreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/americanindustryreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/americanindustryreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=656"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/americanindustryreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/656\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/americanindustryreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/655"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/americanindustryreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=656"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/americanindustryreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=656"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/americanindustryreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=656"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}