https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/vsrr/vsrr044.pdf

https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/5952060-us-death-rate-2025-record-low/

US death rate at record low: CDC data
By Joseph Choi - July 2, 2026

The U.S. death rate fell to a record low in 2025, according to provisional data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released Thursday.

According to the Vital Statistics Rapid Release report, the death rate in 2025 was 689.2 per 100,000 people, representing a 4.6 percent drop from 2024 as well as the lowest recorded death rate in the country’s history.

The top two underlying causes of death in the U.S. were heart disease and cancer, followed distantly by unintentional injuries, strokes, chronic lower respiratory disease, Alzheimer’s disease and diabetes.

Compared to 2024, the first seven leading causes of death remained the same, but the last three were different. In 2024, the leading causes of death also included nephritis, chronic liver disease and suicide. In the following year, influenza and pneumonia as well as kidney disease outranked these causes of death, though chronic liver disease remained among the top causes.

Death rates were highest among males, older adults and Black people.

“The death rate decreased from 2024 to 2025 for all demographic groups except American Indian and Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander, and Asian people. Although the death rate decreased for people age 85 and older during this period, rates for this group remained higher than those for all other age groups,” the report stated.

“Death rates also decreased for several race and ethnicity groups; however, rates for Black people remain higher than those for all other groups.”

The data used for this report was derived from the National Vital Statistics System and accounted for 99 percent of deaths that occurred in 2025.

The report identified four limitations to the findings: The data is provisional, the timeliness of death certificate submissions varies by jurisdiction, race categories may have been misclassified, and the methodology of population estimates varied between 2024 and 2025.

“Despite these limitations, this report provides an overview of provisional mortality in the United States during 2025,” reads the report. “Provisional death estimates can give researchers and policymakers an early signal about shifts in mortality trends and provide actionable information sooner than final mortality data. These data can inform public health policies and interventions aimed at reducing mortality.”

https://nypost.com/2026/06/28/us-news/1-million-people-without-social-security-numbers-enrolled-in-obamacare-rfk-jr/

Obamacare recipients include more than 1M without Social Security numbers, Dr. Oz, RFK Jr. reveal: ‘Plagued by fraud’
By Ryan King - June 28, 2026

WASHINGTON — More than 1 million people enrolled in Obamacare plans lack Social Security Numbers, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced with Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz.

Kennedy called that “a glaring warning sign for fraud” across the Obamacare program and faulted President Trump’s predecessors for not maintaining proper guardrails in social safety net programs.

“The Obamacare marketplace is plagued by fraud in large part because the Biden administration dismantled basic program integrity guardrails, while partisan lawfare blocked common sense efforts to protect taxpayers,” Kennedy grumbled in a video announcement with Oz on Saturday.

“Why are we paying people we don’t know if they actually exist?”

An estimated 19.2 million Americans are enrolled in an Obamacare exchange plan, according to the latest data from HHS.

That’s down from about 23.4 million in 2025.

Notably, the enhanced Obamacare subsidies put in place under the Biden administration expired at the end of last year.

Kennedy and Oz have been crusading against fraud in social spending on healthcare. They didn’t say how many of the 1 million Obamacare enrollees who lacked Social Security numbers were suspected of fraud.

But they argued that the systems in place should’ve identified the lack of proper vetting earlier.

Oz claimed that “rogue agents and other bad actors” have been enrolling “unsuspecting Americans in health plans they never signed up for,” and using fake identities to collect fees from insurance companies for “selling plans they never legitimately sold.”

Typically, they select plans that don’t have premiums so that people are unaware that they’ve been enrolled, according to the health bosses.

“Some of these agents refuse to follow basic rules, like providing their clients’ social security numbers. That, my friends, is a huge red flag,” Oz claimed.

It’s not clear how widespread that alleged phenomenon is.

The two Trump admin leader said they have a “zero tolerance policy” for such fraud and have eliminated thousands of fraudulent enrollments.

“We’re also working with insurers to cancel every policy that should never have been issued and recover every taxpayer dollar that was fraudulently paid out,” Kennedy said.

“If you’re a fraudster, here’s our advice to you: do not walk away from us, run, because we are going to find you,” Oz added.

https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/5915249-medical-education-nutrition-requirements/

Medical school organizations sign on to RFK Jr.’s nutrition requirements
By Joseph Choi - June 8, 2026

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced Monday that numerous medical school accrediting organizations and assessors have agreed to increase nutrition requirements for U.S. medical education.

HHS said in a release that eight medical school organizations had agreed to “increase nutrition requirements at every level of U.S. medical education, competency-evaluation, training, and residency.”

The release did not specify what these increased requirements will be. Earlier this year, the Trump administration announced partnerships with dozens of medical schools that would incorporate 40 hours of nutrition education before graduation.

The medical school groups who signed on to participate include:

• The National Board of Medical Examiners
• The National Board of Osteopathic Medical Examiners
• The Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education
• The Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME)
• The Commission on Osteopathic College Accreditation
• The American Board of Medical Specialties
• The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education
• The The American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine

The LCME’s participation in HHS’s nutrition push signals a major endorsement by the medical establishment, being the leading accrediting authority in the U.S. for M.D. programs.

As part of the announcement on Monday, HHS shared that 19 more schools had joined this pledge including the University of Massachusetts, University of Maryland, St. Louis University School of Medicine, Hofstra University and Texas A&M University.

“Poor diets are the primary driver of America’s chronic disease epidemic, and today’s announcement reflects the shifting landscape toward placing nutrition and prevention at the core of patient health,” HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said in a statement. “Still, more work remains, and I look forward to seeing nutrition play an increased role as the latest science, data, and best practices develop.”

Taxpayers subsidize the phantom enrollments to the tune of nearly $25 billion.  Those subsidies of phantom enrollments go to brokers and insurance companies, not anyone's healthcare:

https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/5908600-obamacare-improper-enrollments-report/

https://paragoninstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/securepdfs/2026/06/The_Persistent_Obamacare_Enrollment_Fraud_RELEASE_V1.pdf

Conservative think tank alleges widespread ObamaCare enrollment fraud
By Nathaniel Weixel - June 3, 2026

An influential conservative think tank contends that a quarter of all ObamaCare exchange enrollments were improper, adding more fuel to claims from the Trump administration and GOP lawmakers that the exchanges are rife with fraud.

The Paragon Health Institute’s report found more than 6 million people were improperly enrolled in the health law’s exchanges in 2026. The report also argued taxpayers will improperly subsidize the Affordable Care Act program by nearly $25 billion.

The group defines improper enrollment as the number of people signed up in the lowest income category—who receive the highest possible subsidy— that exceeds the number of potentially eligible people in that income category, across states. The analysis uses publicly available enrollment and Census Bureau data.

Paragon is led by Brian Blase, a former economic aide to President Trump. The group has played an outsize role in shaping health policy decisions in Congress and the administration.

Blase and Paragon helped design many of the Medicaid cuts contained in the GOP’s tax cut and spending reconciliation bill last year, and advised lawmakers to let ObamaCare’s enhanced tax credits expire this fall.

Ahead of November’s midterm elections, Republicans are looking for a health care affordability message and a counter to Democratic attacks that the expiration of the subsidies and health cuts in the megabill will drive up costs and increase the number of uninsured.

ObamaCare enrollment grew sharply during the Biden administration, but fell by more than 1 million people in President Trump’s first term in office. Those numbers are expected to drop even more this year.

Administration officials and congressional Republicans contend the estimates of the numbers of people losing insurance have been overblown, and the losses that do happen are a result of cutting waste and fraud.

Democrats, they argue, are focused on boosting enrollment at all costs without putting enough safeguards in place to properly verify the people who sign up.

“We believe that 35 percent, roughly, of the people using the Obamacare exchanges … may not be legit” because they have never filed a claim, Mehmet Oz, who runs the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, said Tuesday during a White House briefing.

“If you care about the ACA, then you’ll want us to take the fraud out,” Oz said.

According to Paragon’s analysis, improper enrollments were especially problematic in states that did not expand Medicaid and in states that use the federal healthcare.gov platform instead of their own systems. Paragon says that’s because the federal platform has weaker enrollment controls and verification systems.

For instance, the analysis claims that more than half of all enrollees in Florida are improperly enrolled.

Jessica Altman, executive director of California’s ACA exchange Covered California, said the federal government should follow similar policies to what the states are doing.

“Broad rule changes that make it harder for people to enroll in and maintain coverage do not strengthen marketplace integrity. They create new barriers for eligible consumers at a time when families are already struggling with higher costs and cannot afford to lose access to affordable health care,” Altman said in a statement.

The report contends that excessive subsidies and the widespread availability of zero-premium plans “created strong incentives for both consumers and enrollment intermediaries to misstate enrollee income to maximize subsidies and commissions.”

Paragon in the report praised the Trump administration’s program integrity regulatory actions as well as provisions in the One Big Beautiful Bill, but recommended Congress go further.

Policies like stronger oversight of third-party enrollment entities, and investigating and suspending unscrupulous brokers and intermediaries involved in unauthorized enrollment activity will help, the report argued, as well as eliminating the zero-premium plans.

1.  Said Abdullahi Ereg, a Somali wanted for a $ 4.2 million fraud scheme that exploited the Federal Child Nutrition Program during the COVID-19 pandemic.  This was one of the Minnesota "Feeding Our Future" scams:

Ereg ran a grocery and deli in south Minneapolis, Minnesota, which was enrolled in the Program under the sponsorship of Feeding Our Future. Between April of 2020 and April of 2021, the grocery and deli fraudulently claimed to have served over 1.4 million meals to children and received more than $4.2 million in payments from Feeding Our Future for purportedly serving meals. Ereg allegedly transferred most of the money to fund his family's lavish lifestyle. He also allegedly transferred money to foreign accounts controlled by foreign companies. A federal arrest warrant was issued for Ereg on January 24, 2024, in the United States District Court, District of Minnesota, Minneapolis Minnesota, after he was charged with Conspiracy to Commit Wire Fraud, Wire Fraud, and Money Laundering.

The FBI is offering a reward of up to $150,000 for information leading to the arrest and capture of Said Abdullahi Ereg.

2. Herbert Leon Kimble pled guilty to Conspiracy to Defraud the United States, to Make a False Claim to a Department of the United States, to Commit Mail Fraud, to Commit Wire Fraud, to Commit Healthcare Fraud, and to Offer Kickbacks and Bribes in connection with this scheme in the United States District Court, District of South Carolina, Columbia Division. He then failed to appear for his scheduled sentencing hearing on August 27, 2024:

Kimble operated a large-scale healthcare fraud conspiracy that targeted the Medicare system through the improper marketing and distribution of durable medical equipment (DME), particularly orthopedic braces.  He operated a sophisticated call-center-based operation, beginning around 2014 and continuing to March 2019, that served as the marketing engine for a nationwide fraud scheme in which individuals contacted call centers in the Philippines, telemedicine providers, DME suppliers (the billers), and orthopedic brace suppliers (the drop shippers).  His operations focused primarily on initiating contact with Medicare beneficiaries and persuading them to request orthopedic braces for pain relief, which were frequently unnecessary and prescribed through telemedicine consultations that often lacked legitimate medical evaluation.  The prescriptions were then sold to DME companies, Kimble-affiliated suppliers would ship the braces, and the DME companies billed Medicare for reimbursement.  His fraudulent healthcare enterprise resulted in more than $1.2 billion in Medicare charges and affected thousands of Medicare beneficiaries, many of whom were elderly victims.

The FBI is offering a reward of up to $150,000 for information leading to the arrest and capture of Herbert Leon Kimble.  Kimble was last known to be residing in Manila, Philippines.

https://www.justice.gov/usao-edmi/pr/feds-charge-foreign-nationals-working-national-institutes-health-smuggling-monkeypox

Feds charge foreign nationals working at the National Institutes of Health with smuggling monkeypox into the United States and lying about it
For Immediate Release - Tuesday, June 2, 2026
U.S. Attorney's Office, Eastern District of Michigan

DETROIT - Vincent Munster and Claude Kwe, both researchers with the National Institutes of Health (NIH) at the Rocky Mountain Laboratory were charged today in a criminal complaint with conspiracy to smuggle monkeypox into the United States and giving false statements to federal law enforcement, United States Attorney Jerome F. Gorgon Jr. announced.

Gorgon was joined in the announcement by Jennifer Runyan, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Detroit Field Office, Marty Raybon, Director of Field Operations, U.S. Customs and Border Protection and Special Agent in Charge Marcus L. Sykes of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG).

According to the criminal complaint, Vincent Munster, a citizen of the Netherlands, 53, is the Chief of the Virus Ecology Section, Laboratory of Virology at the Rocky Mountain Laboratory in Hamilton, Montana. Claude Kwe, a citizen of Cameroon, 38, is a research fellow in Munster’s section. The work of both men is focused on “emerging viral pathogens” and how those pathogens “cross the species barrier.” They work at a Biosafety Level 4 laboratory, which employs the highest level of biosafety precautions for scientific research of known and potential human pathogens.

On January 25, 2026, Munster and Kwe arrived at the McNamara Terminal at Detroit Metropolitan Airport with travel originating from Brazzaville, Republic of Congo, where an outbreak of monkeypox was occurring. Monkeypox is an infectious virus that can result in painful rash, enlarged lymph nodes, fevers and other ailments.

Munster and Kwe were inspected and interviewed by Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officials upon their arrival. CBP officers observed Kwe and Munster traveling with a large black plastic case. Munster and Kwe falsely told CBP officers that the black case contained diagnostics and testing equipment. But subsequent investigation by CBP and FBI agents revealed that the case actually contained 113 vials in Styrofoam coolers. As of the date of the complaint, the FBI has tested 20 of the 113 vials. Seventeen of them contained deactivated monkeypox virus, one contained the Chickenpox virus, and two contained only human DNA.

“These NIH experts apparently broke our laws by smuggling viral pathogens on a packed commercial airplane from an outbreak in the Republic of Congo. Let that sink in,” United States Attorney Gorgon stated.

“No researchers should believe their positions, credentials, or professional status place them above the law,” said Jennifer Runyan, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Detroit Field Office. “The allegations in this case are serious. They involve the dangerous and unlawful smuggling of deactivated Mpox virus into the United States and alleged efforts to mislead our federal agents. I am grateful for the outstanding and diligent work of the FBI Detroit JTTF, FBI Billings’ Missoula Resident Agency, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection team at Detroit Metro Airport, and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services – OIG, for keeping our communities safe.”

“The arrest of these individuals on serious federal charges sends a clear and unmistakable message that no one—including HHS employees who have an obligation to safeguard our federal programs—is above the law. Any deliberate effort to conceal and smuggle biological materials into the United States without proper authorization is a breach of the public’s trust and could have placed the public at risk,” said Special Agent in Charge Marcus L. Sykes of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG). “HHS-OIG will continue to work alongside our law enforcement partners to ensure that anyone who is entrusted with protecting the health and well-being of the public is held fully accountable.”

“We have zero tolerance for anyone who attempts to exploit our research frameworks, circumvent our border enforcement processes, or deceive investigators,” said CBP Director of Field Operations Marty C. Raybon. “Along with our law enforcement partners, we will remain fiercely vigilant in neutralizing biological threats—or otherwise— and continue to hold accountable those who jeopardize the safety and security of the American people.”

Munster and Kwe face a maximum sentence of five years in prison.

The investigation is being conducted by the Detroit Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Detroit and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG).

A complaint is only a charge and not evidence of guilt. The defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty. It will be the government’s burden to prove guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

https://www.hhs.gov/press-room/hhs-unveils-plan-to-combat-lyme-disease.html

HHS Unveils Sweeping Plan to Combat Lyme Disease and Advance Treatment
For Immediate Release

May 29, 2026

CONCORD—MAY 29, 2026—U.S. Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. today announced a series of major initiatives to strengthen the nation’s response to Lyme disease and other tick-borne illnesses. HHS actions include a multi-million-dollar pilot program focused on tick control, up to $2.5 million in innovation challenges, funding for NIH researchers to combat Alpha-gal syndrome, and a public-private collaboration to help patients connect with experienced providers.

Secretary Kennedy delivered these announcements during a press conference in New Hampshire — one of the states hardest hit by Lyme disease — after convening a roundtable with state lawmakers and Lyme disease advocates as part of his “Take Back Your Health” tour.

“Millions of Americans battling Lyme disease and other tick-borne illnesses have spent years searching for answers, treatment, and support,” said Secretary Kennedy. “Today, the Trump Administration is launching one of the most ambitious federal efforts ever to combat Lyme disease by accelerating research, expanding innovation, and improving care for patients and families. We are going after this disease at its source, driving faster diagnostics and new prevention strategies, and delivering the urgency and action Americans deserve.

”Lyme disease remains one of the nation’s fastest-growing vector-borne health threats. More than 476,000 Americans are diagnosed with Lyme disease each year, and recent data show emergency room visits for tick bites reached their highest springtime level in nearly a decade.

As part of the Department’s broader strategy to address tick-borne diseases, HHS announced a new multi-million-dollar pilot program led by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and HHS in collaboration with leading tick-control researchers. The initiative will develop and deploy practical strategies to target and eliminate ticks on wildlife before they can spread disease to humans.

The effort will begin with researchers at the New England Center of Excellence in Vector-Borne Diseases and will build on existing community collaboration, including collaboration with the Indian Health Service (IHS) and the Wampanoag Tribe in Massachusetts. By reducing tick populations and disrupting breeding cycles, the initiative aims to slow disease transmission and protect more Americans from infection.

The Department also reaffirmed its goal of reducing Lyme disease cases by 25 percent by 2035 compared to 2022 levels.

HHS continues to support robust research into Lyme disease and other tick-borne illnesses. The National Institutes of Health currently invests nearly $50 million annually in Lyme disease research and approximately $122 million annually in broader tick-borne disease research, including efforts focused on prevention, diagnostics, and treatment.

HHS also announced new actions to combat Alpha-gal syndrome, a tick-associated condition that can trigger potentially serious allergic reactions to red meat and other mammalian products. According to CDC estimates, nearly 500,000 Americans are living with Alpha-gal syndrome, though emerging evidence suggests the true number may be significantly higher.

Through ongoing discussions with private-sector innovators, NIH has preliminarily identified promising products that may help protect individuals from developing Alpha-gal syndrome following a tick bite. Under the anticipated collaboration, participating companies would provide candidate products while NIH would support and fund the clinical research needed to evaluate their effectiveness. HHS expects to provide additional details on the initiative in the coming months as part of its broader effort to accelerate innovation and improve outcomes for Americans affected by tick-borne illnesses.

HHS also announced three new LymeX innovation challenges, offering up to $2.5 million in total prize funding to accelerate breakthroughs in public awareness, treatment, and patient care.

The new challenges include:

• LymeX Visible Voices Prize, offering up to $250,000 to support educational tools and public awareness campaigns developed with input from patients, clinicians, and advocates.
• LymeX Healthathon Innovation Sprint, offering up to $250,000 to identify promising frontline solutions, including novel uses of existing medicines and drug repurposing strategies.
• TOPx HHS Tech Sprint for AI and Invisible Illness, offering up to $2 million — including a $1 million grand prize to harness artificial intelligence and open data to help patients with Lyme disease and other invisible illnesses receive answers and access care more quickly.

These initiatives build on the success of the LymeX Innovation Accelerator, the public-private collaboration between HHS and the Steven & Alexandra Cohen Foundation that was originally launched during President Trump’s first term.

Through LymeX, HHS recently launched a $10 million Diagnostics Prize aimed at accelerating the development of faster, more accurate next-generation Lyme disease tests. Over the past two years, two improved FDA-cleared Lyme disease diagnostics have reached the market through the LymeX innovation ecosystem.

In addition, HHS announced a new public-private collaboration with the International Lyme and Associated Diseases Society (ILADS). Through hhs.gov/lyme, patients will be able to access ILADS’ clinician locator tool, helping connect individuals and families with experienced providers and educational resources related to Lyme disease and associated chronic conditions.

Secretary Kennedy also reiterated his support for reauthorization of the bipartisan Kay-Hagan Tick Act, which established the nation’s first coordinated federal strategy for preventing and controlling vector-borne diseases.

The legislation was signed into law by President Trump in 2019 and recently advanced unanimously through the House Energy and Commerce Committee.

HHS’ Lyme disease initiatives reflect the Trump administration’s ongoing commitment to improving prevention, accelerating research, fostering innovation while ensuring patients receive timely and effective care.

For more information, visit hhs.gov/lyme.

Contact:
HHS Press Office
202-690-6343

The NHIS early report estimates health insurance coverage for the U.S. civilian noninstitutionalized population based on data from the 2025 NHIS. The National Center for Health Statistics releases these estimates before final editing and final weighting to provide all interested parties access to the most recent health insurance information. Estimates are broken down by age group, sex, family income, race & ethnicity, and state Medicaid expansion status

https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/5899861-us-uninsured-rate-2025/

https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nhis/earlyrelease/Health-Insurance-Coverage-Early-Release-of-Estimates-2025.pdf

CDC: About 8 percent of US was uninsured in 2025
By Nathaniel Weixel - May 28, 2026

About 8 percent of the U.S. population was uninsured in 2025, largely unchanged from 2024, according to new estimates from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The results from the agency’s National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) show that while the overall percentage is largely unchanged, the number of uninsured grew by about 800,000 — including 300,000 children. The uninsured rate remains lower than it was in 2019.

The CDC’s numbers, which are preliminary estimates, show the first complete picture of 2025 insurance coverage.

Among adults ages 18 to 64, 11.6 percent were uninsured at the time of interview, 21 percent had public coverage like Medicaid, state-sponsored or military plans, and 69 percent had private health insurance coverage.

The number of uninsured is likely to rise in the coming years because of sweeping changes the Trump administration is making to Medicaid as well as the expiration of the Affordable Care Act enhanced premium tax credits and other regulatory changes to the exchanges.

The Congressional Budget Office projects that about 14 million more people will be uninsured in 2034 due to the combined effects of the Medicaid and exchange eligibility changes included in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act tax cut law as well as the expiration of the enhanced subsidies.

The Census Bureau has not yet released its American Community Survey, which many consider to be the best representation of insurance coverage in the country. The 2024 survey similarly found about 8 percent of Americans of all ages did not have insurance in 2024.

But according to a KFF analysis of the 2024 figures, the number of people 64 and younger without health coverage and the uninsured rate both increased for the first time since 2019. The decline was mostly driven by a drop in Medicaid coverage.

Coverage among people aged 64 and younger is the best indication of the bigger picture, because Medicare offers near universal coverage for adults 65 and older.

The Government Accountability Office is a nonpartisan agency of the U.S. Congress - not the Executive Branch - which audits, evaluates, and investigates Executive Branch activities.

https://nypost.com/2026/05/25/us-news/us-government-overpaid-welfare-and-medicare-recipients-by-186-billion-last-year/

https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-26-108694

US government overpaid welfare and Medicare recipients by $186 billion last year — after a shocking surge
By Chris Nesi - May 25, 2026

The federal government overpaid welfare and social services recipients by a stunning $186 billion in fiscal year 2025, a startling surge of $24 billion from the previous year’s total.

According to the Government Accountability Office (GAO), 15 federal agencies made up the massive improper payments overage spanning 64 programs, with approximately 82% of the overages the result of overpayments.

And these are just the mistakes that the government caught — usually not outright fraud, like the billions alleged in Minnesota.

The GAO’s analysis comes as a fraudtask force helmed by Vice President JD Vance seeks to apply pressure to states, including New York, to root out the sources of fraud or risk losing federal funding.

Medicare was responsible for the largest share of overpayments, according to GAO’s analysis, coming in at $57 billion.

Medicare — the second largest government program after Social Security — has a budget of nearly $1.1 trillion.

Medicaid mistakes cost $37 billion, while the government doled out $21 billion for the Earned Income Tax Credit to people who didn’t deserve it.

Recipients of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) — food stamps — received $10 billion more than they should have.

The Shuttered Venue Operators Grant Program, a pandemic-era program that provided billions in emergency COVID-19 relief for certain live venues, museums and movie theaters also got $10 billion too much.

The remaining 59 programs combined made up $51 billion in improper payments.

The issue has long dogged the federal government, with GAO putting the total overpaid since 2003 at a staggering $3 trillion — though the agency says the actual total could be much higher.

The figure includes a dramatic uptick during the pandemic years of 2020-2023, when new programs were quickly developed and existing programs were rapidly expanded, leading to a significantly greater risk of fraud and improper payments, Kristen Kociolek, managing director of GAO’s Financial Management and Assurance team told the Washington Times.

The $186 billion figure omits certain programs that agencies have determined are susceptible to “significant improper payments,” GAO writes, including the Department of Health and Human Services’ Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), which spent roughly $16.5 billion in FY2025.

The agency notes it has made numerous recommendations to Congress and federal agencies in an attempt to close the gap, including in March 2022 during the Biden administration when GAO submitted 10 matters that would enhance accountability of federal spending.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) is about to reward hospitals for buying domestically produced PPE, despite being more expensive.  CMS is trying to secure the PPE supply chain during future demand surges by shifting domestic users from marginal consumer status to full fledged participants in a domestic PPE supply chain.

In economic theory, a marginal consumer is the consumer who is least willing to pay the market price in a typical supply and demand equilibrium. This consumer is at the point in the market where purchasing decisions and supply are most sensitive to price changes.  The marginal consumer enjoys low prices in a normal market, but faces severe shortfalls in an oversubscribed market.  When prices increase or availability diminishes, the marginal consumer is the first to stop purchasing the product, and/or the first to get frozen out of the market.

This deeply flawed post by Justin Leventhal at the American Consumer Institute deliberately ignores marginal consumer economic theory, but reflects efforts by hospitals to reestablish the PPE status quo ante the pandemic.  Good for hospitals' immediate bottom lines, but likely to cause PPE shortages during the next pandemic:

https://www.realclearhealth.com/articles/2026/05/22/cms_wants_hospitals_to_pay_more_for_ppe_1184380.html

https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2026/01/29/2026-01730/medicare-program-ensuring-safety-through-domestic-security-with-made-in-america-personal-protective

CMS Wants Hospitals to Pay More for PPE and Patients Will Pay the Price
By Justin Leventhal - May 22, 2026

In an attempt secure healthcare supply chains and bring more manufacturing to the United States, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) is proposing to reward hospitals for buying more expensive, domestically produced products. At the same time, the Administration has imposed tariffs on personal protective equipment (PPE) and is considering expanding those tariffs to additional PPE and pharmaceuticals. More expensive medical bills do not make supply chains more secure. Unfortunately, CMS’ subsidies will only increase already high hospital costs, without meaningfully increasing domestic manufacturing.

CMS is proposing to create a list of hospitals that purchase a sufficient share of their PPE from U.S. companies and reward them with larger Medicare reimbursements. While CMS has yet to define what that share would be, it has proposed basing it on all PPE as well as on each individual product, which would drive hospital administration costs higher trying to track.

Supply Chain security doesn’t require producing everything domestically at any cost. A diversified supplier base ensure availability while maintaining price competition. Lower costs also make it easier for the federal government to build and maintain strategic reserves of essential PPE. Masks, gloves, and gowns are durable goods that can be stockpiled until needed.

Concerns about American over reliance on China are often overstated. For many categories of PPE—particularly rubber, paper, and textile PPE—it is actually Malaysia that provides the largest portion. If the risk is that a geopolitical adversary could restrict supply, the solution is diversification, not reshoring at any price. Expanding sourcing to countries like Malasia, Mexico, Thailand, and others reduces dependence on any single supplier and limits the ability of any one country to disrupt supply.

CMS’ approach ignores the core issue: production cost. Hospitals don’t avoid American-made products out of preference; they do it because of the expense. America is one of the leaders in high-tech manufacturing and production that requires high-skilled labor. That means massive capital investments and high-paid labor. Bulk medical equipment is produced with the opposite. It is low-tech, low-skilled production that is inherently more expensive to produce domestically.

The proposal would also shift onto non-Medicare patients. While CMS would increase reimbursements for Medicare patients, those with private insurance would receive no offsetting support. Hospitals must either absorb losses or pass the higher costs on to insurers, which would then pass them on to patients through higher premiums and out-of-pocket costs.

CMS effectively conceded the problem. The agency’s proposal acknowledges the policy would raise PPE costs and that domestic suppliers currently lack the capacity to meet demand. However, paying more for the same product does not build capacity; it simply inflates costs.

If policymakers want more domestic PPE production, they should focus on reducing the costs of producing in the United States by addressing poor regulations. The FDA classifies much of PPE as medical devices—including surgical masks, gowns, and gloves—subjecting manufacturers to Quality System Regulation requirements. These rules increase compliance costs and create barriers to entry for smaller firms.

During COVID-19, the FDA waived many of these requirements to expand supply—an implicit acknowledgement that they were constraining production. Regulators should reassess which products truly require full medical device regulation. Non-sterile PPE including masks, gloves, and gowns can be produced safely and quickly at lower cost without the same regulatory burden.

Healthcare resilience does not mean abandoning cost-saving trade. It means building supply chains that are both reliable and competitive. Policies that raise prices in the name of security undermine both goals. Patients are best served by a system that delivers affordable care and can withstand disruption—not one that guarantees higher costs with little added resilience.

Justin Leventhal is a senior policy analyst for the American Consumer Institute, a nonprofit education and research organization that advocates for consumers through evidence-based analysis and data. Visit www.TheAmericanConsumer.Org or follow us on X @ConsumerPal.