03/19/2026

House Committee Hears Medicare and Medicaid Program Integrity

On March 17, the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations convened a hearing focusing on fraud in Medicare and Medicaid. Kimberly Brandt, Deputy Administrator and Chief Operating Officer, U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), was the only witness during the hearing. Deputy Administrator Brandt has more than 20 years’ experience working in multiple roles within CMS, the Senate Finance Committee, and private industry with a deep focus on program integrity policy and operations. Throughout her testimony and in questioning, Deputy Administrator Brandt focused on some key themes:

• The current role of CMS and its use of technology to transition CMS from a 'pay and chase' model of fraud prosecution to 'stop and cop' before fraudulent players are paid. She talked about how artificial intelligence is really helpful in putting edits into the claims system to stop money from going out the door.
• The collaborative work that CMS is doing with states and law enforcement to do targeted, effective fraud enforcement. To that end, CMS is working to create a 50-state program integrity playbook to share best practices across states.
• The value of boots on the ground and education as valuable tools in preventing fraud.

Fraud in home health and, particularly, fraud in hospice came up repeatedly across multiple lines of questioning from Republican members of Congress. Deputy Administrator Brandt talked a lot about what CMS has been doing about hospice fraud, including site visits and revocations. Democrats focused on the firings of Inspectors General, the disallowance and deferral of Medicaid funds in Minnesota, and their view that this work is politically targeted at states with blue governors. Deputy Administrator Brandt emphasized CMS' processes and noted that Florida had gotten a letter similar to letters sent to a number of blue states (the Florida letter is attached to the nightly update). The hearing memo provided by Committee's majority staff with background information, key themes, and questions can be found here. Individuals interested in viewing the hearing can do so here.