BOSTON — The Massachusetts House Committee on Energy and Commerce is requesting information from Gov. Maura Healey related to “concerning” reports of Medicaid fraud in the state as part of a cross-country probe after hundreds of millions of dollars in fraud has been uncovered in Minnesota.

The committee, in a letter sent to Gov. Maura Healey on March 3, cites the vast amount of federal funds lost to waste, fraud and abuse in Minnesota through public benefits and companies offering services that receive federal funding through programs including Medicaid, like day cares, autism care services, nonemergency medical transport and more.

Now the committee is looking into each state’s Medicaid program to ensure federal tax dollars are not going toward fraud, waste and abuse (FWA).

“Recent reports and law enforcement actions have exposed unprecedented levels of Medicaid fraud in the State of Minnesota and other states. The magnitude of the fraud demands states proactively address FWA in Medicaid programs. The swath of criminal schemes coming to light in Minnesota include overbilling, falsifying records, identity theft, and phantom claims in Medicaid social service and health programs for the elderly and disabled, children with autism, people struggling with substance use disorders, and homelessness,” the committee said in its letter to Healey.

“The Committee is concerned that your state’s Medicaid programs may be similarly vulnerable to FWA that harms Medicaid enrollees, legitimate providers, and taxpayers. To inform the Committee’s oversight and potential legislative reforms, we are examining Medicaid program integrity and actions your state has taken, and is taking, to proactively identify and root out FWA,” it said.

When it comes to Massachusetts, the committee pointed to recent fraud investigations and convictions related to MassHealth, including the February indictment of an individual on Non-Emergency Medical Transport (NEMT) fraud and money laundering for allegedly billing MassHealth over $770,000 for nearly 17,000 rides purportedly for patients seeking opioid addiction treatment. That case uncovered an additional 100 rides billed to patients who were dead at the time of the documented ride.

The committee also highlighted a 2025 case out of Worcester, in which another NEMT-company and its proprietor were indicted for allegedly billing over $3 million in medical transport services that were not provided. They are also alleged to have employed drivers that impersonated MassHealth patients by stealing their identity, allowed illicit drug use and sales during rides, sexually assaulted patients, and failed to transport wheelchair patients in accessible vehicles.

“Ensuring Medicaid program integrity is critical to preserving access to vital health care services for those that need it most. Every dollar stolen from the Medicaid program by fraudsters is taken from children, pregnant women, the elderly, and people with disabilities,” the letter continued. “It is the duty of states to design Medicaid programs with adequate fraud control measures and work with CMS to swiftly identify and address vulnerabilities in programs.”

The committee is requesting Healey provide it with written responses and supporting documents to numerous inquiries regarding the state’s MassHealth/Medicaid program by March 17, including any actions being taken to identify and assess fraud risk; all audits related to fraud, waste and abuse in the state’s Medicaid programs from 2021 to present day; any program integrity measures that are currently in place to prevent fraud, waste and abuse; screening requirements for MassHealth/Medicaid vendors in Massachusetts, and more.

The letter came just a week before state Auditor Diana DiZoglio’s office uncovered another $1.7 million in MassHealth/Medicaid fraud, specifically found in a probe of the first two quarters of Fiscal Year 2026, which ran from July 1 to Dec. 31, 2025.

It also comes as DiZoglio and the U.S. Attorney’s Office has uncovered millions of dollars in Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP) fraud in Massachusetts and after the Herald detailed a whistleblower’s claims of “rampant” fraud and lax measures to combat it within the Department of Transitional Assistance (DTA).

U.S. Attorney Leah Foley has also announced a new fraud coordinator position, mirroring President Trump’s move to establish a new fraud czar position at the White House. Foley’s office tells the Herald that the person taking the job will be named this week.

Meanwhile, Gov. Maura Healey refuses to turn over SNAP recipient information to the USDA, saying the Trump administration has not provided her office assurance that the information will not be sent to ICE. Recently, Healey blamed $364 million in SNAP overpayments in FY24 on federal changes to food stamp eligibility during COVID, despite the state of emergency ending in 2023.

Massachusetts Medicaid (MassHealth) spending totaled over $26 billion, which included $14.7 billion in federal funding, in Fiscal Year 2024 that covered over 1.6 million people. According to Healey’s 2026 budget, MassHealth spending is expected to increase 12.6% in fiscal year 2026.

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