Families USA Statement for the Record for the Energy and Commerce’s Health Subcommittee Hearing on Combatting Medicare and Medicaid Fraud

Families USA submitted a statement for the record for the March 17 Energy and Commerce Oversight & Investigations Subcommittee hearing “Protecting Patients and Safeguarding Taxpayer Dollars: The Role of CMS in Combatting Medicare and Medicaid Fraud.” In this statement, we outline that identifying, addressing, and resolving cases of fraud is essential to protecting program integrity and ensuring that taxpayer dollars are used appropriately and efficiently.

Yet we urge the subcommittee to exercise caution as it conducts its investigation, ensuring that existing state and federal program integrity efforts are appropriately considered and efforts to enhance program oversight and accountability do not disrupt access to care. Any additional oversight efforts should build upon existing structures and support effective investigations rather than weakening critical health coverage programs. This is particularly important given the strain already placed on state budgets and families’ access to care by H.R. 1, which significantly undermined health insurance marketplaces and made the largest cuts to Medicaid funding in the program’s history.

We also recommend that the Committee focus its efforts on areas of well-documented waste and abuse in the health care system, including within the Medicare Advantage program, where unchecked corporate profiteering has resulted in significant wasteful spending that undermines Medicare’s promise to seniors and taxpayers.