Vance threatens Medicaid funding cuts as Michigan touts its anti-fraud record

As federal officials threaten to withhold Medicaid funds from states that don’t do enough to combat fraud, Michigan officials are defending their record in policing Medicaid, a program jointly funded by the state and national governments.

Vice President JD Vance announced May 13 that the Trump administration would crack down on states that fail to pursue Medicaid fraud aggressively. States that don’t address fraud could suffer the loss of federal funds, he warned, including money that supports Medicaid Fraud Control Units.

Federal officials currently recognize the Attorney General’s Health Care Fraud Division as the fraud control unit for Michigan. It receives 75% of its funding from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services through a federal grant totaling $5,517,524 for fiscal year 2026. The remaining 25% of the Fraud Division’s budget, or $1,839,170, comes from state taxpayers.

The same day Vance made his remarks, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel announced a new Medicaid fraud prosecution.

Julie Evers, a 53-year-old Florida woman, was arraigned on charges related to alleged transportation fraud involving the Medicaid program, said Nessel. Evers was charged with multiple counts of Medicaid fraud. The first charge, conspiracy, is a felony that carries a punishment of up to 10 years in prison. Evers also faces 10 counts of making false claims, each punishable by up to four years in prison.

Evers used an app while staying in Farwell, Michigan during summer 2023 to make a fraudulent claim for mileage reimbursements for trips she never took, the attorney general’s office alleges.

“Improper billing diverts public resources from those in need and siphons off taxpayer funds,” Nessel said in a press release. “My office remains committed to working with the Department of Health and Human Services to investigate and prosecute allegations of fraud in this critical program.”

Michigan’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit reported a total of 489 fraud and abuse or neglect investigations in 2025, resulting in 16 indictments and 19 convictions.

Nearby states reported varying levels of anti-fraud activity. Ohio recorded 1,058 investigations, along with 149 indictments and 108 convictions. Minnesota, which has drawn national attention for claims of negligence, reported 202 investigations, 50 indictments and 38 convictions. Wisconsin reported 126 investigations, 16 indictments and six convictions. Indiana, which Vance praised during his remarks for its anti-fraud efforts, reported 951 investigations, 42 indictments and 37 convictions. The number of Medicaid recipients varies across the states, based on their population and decisions their officials make about eligibility.

Michigan’s 2024 figures were nearly identical to 2025. The state also reported 489 investigations that year, resulting in 15 indictments and 13 convictions.

The Michigan Attorney General's office stated in an email that the inspector general of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services sent the same letter to every fraud-control unit in the country, without regard to its performance.

A spokesperson for Nessel, writing to CapCon in an email, defended the state’s anti-fraud efforts. Any claim that Michigan’s medical fraud have put the state’s Medicaid funds in jeopardy “is inconceivable and completely disconnected from the performance record,” said Danny Wimmer, press secretary for the attorney general. “While some states have been, over the last year, singled out by the federal government for purported performance issues, Michigan has never been among them.”