By Ethan Faverino |
The Republican Study Committee (RSC) held a fraud roundtable last week, led by Representative Brandon Gill (TX-26), calling for aggressive action and criminal prosecutions in response to a major Medicaid fraud scheme in Ohio uncovered by investigative reporting.
The event follows a Daily Wire investigation by reporter Luke Rosiak, which revealed how convicted felons and foreign nationals established 288 shell companies to fraudulently bill taxpayers for home health services that were never even provided.
The scheme defrauded Ohio’s Medicaid program of approximately $250 million. One single building in Columbus reportedly housed 94 fake companies that billed out $66 million.
Rosiak exposed the operation in about two months by analyzing publicly available data that state Medicaid officials had allegedly overlooked for four years.
Rep. Gill, who chairs the newly formed House Oversight Committee Task Force on Defending Constitutional Rights and Exposing Institutional Abuses, announced that the task force will launch a formal investigation equipped with subpoena power to pursue accountability and issue criminal referrals.
“Whenever you bring in infinity third worlders into American society from low trust countries, you kind of expect low trust behavior, and that’s what we’ve seen here,” stated Gill. “The American people want to know that their tax dollars are actually being used for the American people, not for foreigners, not for fraudsters. Our job is to stop it, to get the bad guys in jail by issuing criminal referrals.”
The roundtable aligns with broader Republican efforts to combat waste, fraud, and abuse in federal healthcare programs. These initiatives build upon the White House Fraud Task Force established by President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance, which has already deferred billions in Medicaid reimbursements from non-compliant states and imposed a hold on new hospice and home health care licenses until integrity requirements are met.
RSC Vice Chair Ben Cline (VA-06) emphasized the impact on legitimate beneficiaries: “Fraud is not a victimless crime. Fraudsters steal money from innocent people who are meant to benefit from these programs, Medicare, Medicaid, home health. One of the main weapons that we have is transparency.”
Additional remarks from members in attendance included:
- Rep. Michael Cloud (TX-27): “It’s unfortunate when people come to this country, have no intent in helping build this country, but are just simply here to defraud the American citizens who are here and working to build this country. The waste, fraud, and abuse is turned into a money laundering scheme for leftist organizations.”
- Rep. Laurel Lee (FL-15): “We are not providing federal funding for the purpose of subsidizing negligence, incompetence, or corruption. Every dollar that is stolen is $1 that is no longer available for vulnerable Americans who actually need these services.”
- Rep. Tim Burchett (TN-02): “We found over a trillion dollars in duplication and increased bureaucracy. Every time the Democrats holler and say, ‘Oh, you’re cutting this program,’ you’re damn right. We’re cutting the waste, abuse, and fraud.”
- Rep. Mike Kennedy (UT-03): “This criminal behavior is enriching filthy individuals who deserve to be in jail. If there are doctors on the tape, they should do the perp walk and go to jail. Their license should be taken and never returned.”
- Rep. Abe Hamadeh (AZ-08): “This is not just going to be hearings after hearings. It’s going to be arrests and prosecutions. We have to end this now. What we’re uncovering is criminals.”
Republicans characterized the Ohio Medicaid scam as a stark example of systemic vulnerabilities in federal healthcare programs that deflect critical resources away from the people who depend on these services.
The roundtable highlighted the GOP’s commitment to greater transparency, aggressive enforcement, and criminal prosecutions to protect taxpayer dollars and restore integrity to these programs.
Ethan Faverino is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
