Congress must now do its part on Medicare fraud

Vance's ask here is refreshingly small-bore for a vice president: don't just catch the fraud, write it into the code so the next guy in office can't quietly wave it through again. That's not a talking point, that's how you actually stop the bleeding. Executive actions on healthcare fraud enforcement have a shelf life of one election cycle. Ask anyone who watched previous crackdowns get shelved the moment a new administration decided enforcement was "too aggressive" toward providers.

Medicare fraud isn't some abstract line item. It's billions of dollars a year, by conservative estimates, siphoned off through phantom billing, kickback schemes, and hospice scams that prey on elderly patients who never even knew they were "enrolled." Every dollar clawed back is a dollar that didn't come out of a future benefit cut or a payroll tax hike. When the current team says they've made progress, the honest question isn't whether to celebrate it. It's whether that progress survives past January 2029, or whatever administration comes next.

That's exactly why this has to go through Congress instead of staying an executive talking point. Regulatory guidance can be rewritten with a memo. Statute can't be undone that easily, and it forces lawmakers who talk tough about fraud to actually put their names on something. If Congress lets this sit, they're not being cautious. They're leaving the door open on purpose.