Ways and Means chair: ‘Repeat verification for people who are on Medicaid would save almost $200B’

Ways and Means Committee Chairman Rep. Jason Smith, R-Mo., told Maria Bartiromo on “Mornings with Maria” on Monday that requiring states to repeat verification for people on Medicaid would save the United States almost $200 billion.

“I’m not going to touch Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid. Now, we’re going to get fraud out of there,” President Donald Trump told Bartiromo in an exclusive interview on “Sunday Morning Futures.”

While the Trump administration maintains their commitment to eliminating fraud and government inefficiency from social programs, Smith confirmed on Monday they will not cut Social Security, Medicare or Medicaid. But Smith said the government can go “line by line” through each program to find serious savings. 

“Just requiring states to do repeat verification for people who are on Medicaid would save almost $200 billion. That’s not cutting anyone off. That’s just making sure that people that should be on the program are on the program. Eliminating the ridiculous nursing home mandate that the unions pushed through in the Biden administration would save $25 billion. There’s a lot of easy savings that Congress must do.”

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Democrats have been sounding the alarm on the threat of Medicaid cuts since Trump returned to the White House. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) found that the House budget resolution would need to reduce Medicaid in order to reach its spending goal. 

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“I would challenge what CBO and the House Democrats have been pushing that these would be Medicaid cuts. The Energy and Commerce Committee’s jurisdiction is much larger than just Medicaid, for example, commerce and spectrum. You could go line by line,” Smith said. 

As chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, Smith leads the oversight of congressional tax, trade and economic policies, including Social Security, Medicaid and Medicare. Smith says he welcomes the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) investigating individual programs and identifying overpayments and inefficiencies. 

“I welcome DOGE looking at Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, the IRS. They need to be audited. They need to look at their efficiencies, and they need to analyze any kind of fraud within the programs. If people say that there’s not fraud in it, I would look at just CBO’s scores saying medical overpayments within just Medicare and Medicaid. This happens. These are efficiencies that need to be rectified. I think DOGE is leading the effort in that.”

A report by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) found federal agencies have reported an estimated $2.8 trillion in improper payments since 2003, which includes improper payments on two of the fastest-growing programs: Medicare and Medicaid.

DOGE has inspired local leaders and agencies across the country to conduct their own investigations of government spending. Lawmakers have also proposed legislation that would streamline oversight of government payments. 

Rep. Dan Meuser, R-Pa., is sponsoring the Payment Integrity Information Reform Act (PIIA) to target overpayments by the federal government. Meanwhile, Sens. Pete Ricketts, R-Neb., and Jacky Rosen, D-Nev., introduced a bill last month that would require the annual presidential budget to include data on improper payments to federal agencies. 

Trump signed an executive order establishing the DOGE on Inauguration Day, directing Musk to lead the federal government’s efforts “to maximize governmental efficiency and productivity.” The Trump administration has since directed government agencies to comply with DOGE’s departmental investigations.

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DOGE’s audits have led to mass layoffs and departures from the federal workforce and cut federal programs to uncover billions of dollars in savings. Many Democrats have consistently protested Trump’s executive actions as Republicans have tended to embrace the federal shake-up.