{"id":423,"date":"2026-06-05T04:08:22","date_gmt":"2026-06-05T04:08:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/?p=423"},"modified":"2026-06-05T04:08:22","modified_gmt":"2026-06-05T04:08:22","slug":"trump-cuts-funds-to-hawaii-fraud-unit-threatening-states-medicaid-funding","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/?p=423","title":{"rendered":"Trump cuts funds to Hawaii fraud unit, threatening state\u2019s Medicaid funding"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<div>\n<p>Hawaii stands to lose around $3 million in federal funding to fight Medicaid fraud after failing to consistently bring criminal cases, the Trump administration said today, in an escalation of Vice President JD Vance\u2019s campaign against healthcare fraud.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/?p=421\">Florida men who allegedly bribed Hawaii Army official plead not guilty<\/a><\/p>\n<p>The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Inspector General March Bell sent a letter to Hawaii Attorney General Anne Lopez informing her that her state\u2019s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, a body that investigates and prosecutes fraud by healthcare providers, has been denied federal certification.<\/p>\n<div>\n<div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>HHS will no longer fund the unit, which has been receiving around $3 million annually, Bell wrote. Without a federally certified Medicaid fraud unit, the state\u2019s broader Medicaid funding could be in jeopardy.<\/p>\n<p>Hawaii\u2019s unit obtained no criminal indictments or convictions for Medicaid fraud or patient abuse and neglect between 2022 and 2025, despite increased enrollment in the program, Bell wrote. The state can ask for reconsideration, according to the letter.<\/p>\n<p>The move is part of a broader Trump administration push on Medicaid fraud enforcement.<\/p>\n<p>On May 13, Vance accused Hawaii of giving fraudsters \u201cfree rein,\u201d and warned of consequences for states failing to effectively police the program.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/?p=419\">Motorcyclist killed in Pahoa collision, other driver arrested<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf we continue to find problems, we can turn off other resources within their state Medicaid programs as well. Our goal here is not to do that,\u201d he said at the time.<\/p>\n<p>More than 360,000 Hawaii residents are enrolled in Medicaid, the health program for low-income Americans. Hawaii received $2.2 billion in federal Medicaid funds in 2024, according to the agency that advises Congress on healthcare spending.<\/p>\n<p>Nationwide, Medicaid fraud units were responsible for more than 4,800 criminal convictions of people and businesses between 2022 and 2025, according to the same agency.<\/p>\n<p>Lopez has pushed back against the Trump administration\u2019s characterization.<\/p>\n<p>She has said the state has not ignored Medicaid fraud, pointing to $14 million recovered in civil cases since 2021. The state also charged two people with criminal healthcare fraud earlier this year.\n<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/?p=417\">Report outlines improvements to affordable housing credit program<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Trump cuts funds to Hawaii fraud unit, threatening state\u2019s Medicaid funding &#8211; Hawaii News | Hawaii Tribune-Herald<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":422,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-423","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Trump cuts funds to Hawaii fraud unit, threatening state\u2019s Medicaid funding - Moving to Hawaii Guide<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/?p=423\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Trump cuts funds to Hawaii fraud unit, threatening state\u2019s Medicaid funding - 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