July 14, 2026
The Honorable Rand Paul
Chairman
Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee
Washington, DC, 20510
The Honorable Gary Peters
Ranking Member
Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee
Washington, DC, 20510
Dear Chairman Paul, Ranking Member Peters, and Members of the Committee,
On behalf of National Taxpayers Union, the nation’s oldest taxpayer advocacy organization, we commend you for holding a hearing entitled “Exposing Fraud in America.” Scandals involving fraudulent government payments and the widespread misuse of tax dollars have made headlines around the country in recent months, and we urge lawmakers to address how health care fraud in particular burdens taxpayers.
According to the Government Accountability Office (GAO), the federal government loses between $233 billion and $521 billion annually to fraud. Because of their growing size and complexity, federal health care programs are increasingly vulnerable to fraudulent schemes. Medicare and Medicaid already rank among the top five government programs for improper payments.
In fiscal year 2025 alone, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) estimated improper payments in Medicaid totaled just over $37 billion. Over the same time period, Medicare reported over $56 billion in payment errors, which amounts to more than $1 billion in taxpayer funds every single week.
Erroneous payments are not synonymous with outright fraud. Nevertheless, the federal government’s failure to prevent billions in tax dollars from being routinely misallocated highlights the vast opportunities fraudsters have to exploit federal health programs.
Medicare and Medicaid’s burden on taxpayers will only grow as the U.S. population continues to age, and failing to crack down on improper payments imperils the viability of these important health programs. As such, we urge lawmakers to focus on solutions that buttress the program integrity of federal health initiatives. Limiting opportunities for fraud isn’t just a matter of preserving scarce federal resources for beneficiaries—it’s fundamentally about restoring public trust in government.
We appreciate the Committee’s leadership on this issue and stand ready to assist in developing legislative solutions that put taxpayers first.
Sincerely,
Alexander Ciccone
Policy and Government Affairs Manager
National Taxpayers Union