Corporate Executives, Not Immigrants, Drive U.S. Healthcare Fraud

A semiannual Office of Inspector General (OIG) report from the Department of Health and Human Services, covering a six-month enforcement period, found that highly compensated corporate executives are responsible for the overwhelming share of billions of dollars in Medicare, Medicaid and Affordable Care Act fraud. The report details schemes in which a CEO sold medically unnecessary devices to elderly Medicare beneficiaries and an insurance broker-marketing team exploited ACA enrollment loopholes targeting people experiencing homelessness and substance abuse. The National Health Care Anti-Fraud Association estimates the overall cost of health-care fraud could be as high as $300 billion a year, most of it stemming from provider and corporate schemes rather than immigrant-related activity.

Corporate Executives, Not Immigrants, Drive US Healthcare Fraud The Intercept

Since early 2025, senior officials of the Trump administration have repeatedly linked undocumented immigrants to large-scale health-care fraud. In May, Vice President J.D. At the same press conference, Dr. Later that month, deputy White House chief of staff Stephen Miller suggested the federal budget could be balanced if only lawfully eligible individuals received benefits.

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Legal scholars and nonprofit leaders argue the administration’s narrative diverts attention from corporate misconduct. Sarah Krieger, senior policy counsel at the National Immigration Law Center, says there is no clear evidence implicating immigrants in systemic fraud. Isha Weerasinghe, director of the public-benefits justice team at the Center for Law and Social Policy, notes that data show non-citizens are less likely to commit welfare fraud than citizens and that the scapegoating serves to erode public support for benefits.

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• “There isn’t really clear evidence of any systemic issues implicating immigrants,” — Sarah Krieger

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• “We could balance the federal budget if the only dollars that went out of the Treasury went to individuals who were properly lawfully correctly eligible to receive them,” — Stephen Miller

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• “We are seeing a trend around the administration scapegoating immigrants and not pointing to the actual bad actors: corporations,” — Isha Weerasinghe

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• “All of us know about the ‘welfare queen’ narrative, and that worked,” — Isha Weerasinghe

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• “It created a lot of hatred toward public benefits, and also this willingness for the public to be OK with this kind of crackdown that was absolutely unnecessary.” — Isha Weerasinghe

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• “They’re not interested in tackling any systemic issues that may exist,” — Sarah Krieger

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