The Justice Department announced the 2026 National Health Care Fraud Takedown, charging 455 people across 45 states in schemes tied to $6.5 billion in alleged fraudulent Medicare and Medicaid claims—along with opioid abuse and what prosecutors describe as sign
For the third morning of arrests, the message from Washington was blunt: the Justice Department was moving faster than the fraud it says has been draining Medicare and Medicaid for years.
On June 23. federal prosecutors announced the 2026 National Health Care Fraud Takedown. charging 455 people nationwide over schemes totaling a record $6.5 billion in alleged fraudulent claims. The takedown spans 45 states and includes doctors and nurse practitioners among the accused. with the government also alleging opioid-related misconduct tied to some of the schemes.
The Justice Department said the alleged fraud involved false claims submitted to Medicare, Medicaid and other health care programs. Prosecutors added that the schemes caused significant patient harm, including death.
Among the charged group, prosecutors said at least 90 were doctors and other licensed medical professionals. The investigation pulled in 56 federal judicial districts and 50 state Medicaid Fraud Control Units.
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche framed the announcement as a coordinated effort. “This year’s National Health Care Fraud Takedown represents the greatest whole-of-government effort to combat health care fraud in our Nation’s history,” he said in the Justice Department’s release.
FBI Director Kash Patel delivered the warning more directly: “While today’s announcement is one of the largest on record – every arrest is a continued message to criminal actors who rob American taxpayers that you will not get away with your crimes,” he said.
What makes the announcement land hardest is how prosecutors described the alleged mechanisms of exploitation—using medical billing systems to siphon taxpayer money, while also targeting vulnerable people and, in the government’s account, enabling preventable harm.
In Arizona, Blanche said a corporate executive allegedly took $1 billion in taxpayer funds after billing for wound grafts. Prosecutors said the billing reached more than $1 million per patient. Blanche said the proceeds were later used to buy million-dollar homes. luxury cars. and even build a hotel in the Philippines.
In Virginia. prosecutors charged the co-owner of a mental health company. alleging a $49 million Medicaid fraud scheme that targeted the homeless. The government said the alleged pitch involved illegal bribes in the form of hotel stays in exchange for using people’s Medicaid numbers to bill for crisis stabilization services that were not needed or not received.
In California, charges were brought against a hospice owner and two other defendants for a $27.7 million Medicare fraud scheme. Prosecutors said the hospice owner allegedly attempted to avoid detection by plotting to purchase information about deceased people from a funeral home employee.
The government’s allegations also describe a detailed scheme involving enrollment. Prosecutors said the hospice owner fraudulently enrolled patients who were not terminally ill. They also alleged kickbacks of up to $3. 000 per person to a funeral home employee in exchange for dead Medicare beneficiaries’ information.
According to prosecutors, the hospice owner then billed Medicare for several days of hospice services for deceased people who had not received hospice care. Prosecutors said the owner also created fake, back-dated medical records, claiming the beneficiaries had been seen by a doctor.
The department’s sweep has been ongoing since June 8. with “hundreds of defendants” arrested in connection with the schemes. according to the announcement. The government positioned the effort as a national push aimed at arresting people tied to the misconduct rather than waiting for cases to emerge one by one.
That push was echoed by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. Dr. Mehmet Oz, the CMS administrator, said that prosecuting fraud is necessary, but so is stopping it before payments are made. “Prosecuting criminals who steal from American patients is necessary − but stopping them before a single dollar leaves the building is smarter. ” Oz said in the release.
He added that CMS is “done playing catch-up,” saying the agency is deploying advanced data analytics to expose fraud networks, freeze suspicious payments, and shut down bad actors before they can do damage to programs that “millions of Americans depend on.”
As federal agents and prosecutors act across 56 federal districts and 50 state fraud units. the case numbers alone show the scale: 455 charged. $6.5 billion alleged. and at least 90 licensed medical professionals among the accused. The Justice Department’s release also makes a stark claim that the fallout went beyond money—describing patient harm. including death—as prosecutors laid out their theory of how the schemes worked.
DOJ National Health Care Fraud Takedown 2026 takedown health care fraud Medicare Medicaid Todd Blanche Kash Patel FBI opioid abuse allegations CMS Mehmet Oz Medicaid Fraud Control Units