“UPDATE: It’s worse than we thought.”

That’s Dr. Oz announcing that the Medicaid fraud scandal has grown from $1.3 billion in October to over $1.8 billion now — and CMS is withholding nearly $300 million from California until they can demonstrate they didn’t break federal law.

Federal Medicaid dollars are explicitly prohibited from funding non-emergency healthcare for illegal immigrants. These states did it anyway.

Now they’re getting caught.

The Numbers Keep Growing

In October, CMS auditors flagged $1.3 billion in potentially unlawful Medicaid spending across 6 states.

Three months later, it’s $1.8 billion across 8 states.

And Oz warned: “More announcements to come.”

The audits are ongoing. The numbers will likely keep climbing. This is just what they’ve found so far.

California: “By Far the Worst Offender”

California accounts for the vast majority of the problem.

The October audit found $1,310,032,549 — over $1.3 billion — in California alone. That’s roughly 97% of the initial $1.3 billion total.

Now CMS is withholding nearly $300 million from California until the state can prove it spent Medicaid dollars legally.

“Medicaid dollars belong to Americans, not illegal immigrants, and we won’t stop until we’ve held rogue states accountable and recovered their misspent funds.”

California chose to expand Medicaid to illegal immigrants. That’s their right — using state funds. What’s not their right is using federal taxpayer dollars to do it.

They did it anyway. Now there’s a $300 million hold on their funding.

The Eight States

The expanded audit identified these offenders:

California: $1.3+ billion Illinois: $29.8 million Oregon: $5.4 million Washington: $2.4 million DC: $2.1 million Colorado: $1.5 million

Plus two additional states added since October.

Notice a pattern? All Democrat-controlled. All sanctuary jurisdictions. All places where illegal immigration is celebrated rather than enforced against.

“Coverage to Individuals Including Some With Criminal Records of Murder and Assault”

That detail from October deserves emphasis.

Federal Medicaid dollars — your tax money — went to provide healthcare coverage for illegal immigrants with criminal records including murder and assault.

Not just people here illegally. Violent criminals here illegally, getting taxpayer-funded healthcare while American citizens struggle to afford insurance.

That’s what Democrats were defending. That’s what this audit exposed.

The Legal Framework

Oz laid out the law clearly.

Federal law prohibits federal Medicaid dollars from being used on non-emergency healthcare for illegal immigrants.

States can use their own tax dollars to cover illegal immigrants if they choose.

If states do that, they must maintain a clear paper trail proving federal dollars weren’t used.

These eight states failed to maintain that paper trail. Over $1.8 billion in federal funds may have been spent illegally.

“What If We Had Never Asked?”

That question from Oz is haunting.

CMS began these audits under Trump. They found billions in unlawful spending almost immediately.

How long had this been going on? How much federal money was diverted to illegal immigrant healthcare under Biden, Obama, and before?

Nobody was checking. Democrats claimed it wasn’t happening. Media insisted it was a conspiracy theory.

Then auditors actually looked — and found $1.8 billion in eight states alone.

Democrats Demanding Repeal

Here’s the political context.

Democrats are demanding repeal of provisions in Trump’s Working Families Tax Cuts legislation that strengthened restrictions on Medicaid spending for illegal immigrants.

They’re holding government funding hostage over this issue.

As Oz put it: “Until Democrats explicitly drop that demand, they’re blatantly holding the government hostage over giving Medicaid to illegal immigrants.”

They want the fraud to continue. They want federal dollars flowing to illegal immigrant healthcare. They’re willing to shut down the government to protect that spending.

The Refunds Are Coming

Some states have already begun refunding the money.

When CMS notified states of the audit findings, many started returning funds rather than fight a losing legal battle.

That’s an admission. If the spending were legal, they’d fight. Instead, they’re quietly sending checks.

California apparently isn’t cooperating — hence the $300 million withholding. Governor Newsom would rather lose federal funds than admit his state broke the law.

“Rooting Out Fraud, Waste, and Abuse”

Oz framed this as a basic good-government measure.

“We can all agree on this: rooting out fraud, waste, and abuse is essential to protecting this program for the most vulnerable. It’s also one of the Trump Administration’s top priorities.”

Medicaid exists for vulnerable Americans — low-income families, disabled individuals, elderly people who can’t afford care.

Every dollar spent on illegal immigrants is a dollar not available for the people the program was designed to help.

Democrats expanded coverage to illegal immigrants while Medicaid budgets were strained. They diverted resources from Americans to non-citizens. And they used federal funds illegally to do it.

“Worse Than We Thought”

The October findings were shocking: over $1 billion in unlawful spending.

Three months later: $1.8 billion. Eight states. Growing.

“More announcements to come.”

How bad will this get? How many billions in federal taxpayer dollars were funneled to illegal immigrant healthcare while Democrats insisted it wasn’t happening?

The audits will tell us. But the preliminary numbers suggest this is one of the largest Medicaid fraud scandals in history.

Accountability Coming

California is losing $300 million until they prove compliance.

Other states are already refunding money.

The Trump administration is systematically auditing every state Medicaid program.

Democrats can scream about cruelty and xenophobia. But the law is clear: federal Medicaid dollars can’t fund non-emergency healthcare for illegal immigrants.

These states broke the law. They’re being held accountable. The money is being recovered.

“Medicaid dollars belong to Americans, not illegal immigrants.”

Dr. Oz is making sure that’s actually enforced — for the first time in years.

$1.8 billion and counting. More announcements to come.