As Trump administration cracks down on health care fraud, people with disabilities feel singled out

The Trump administration has zeroed in on its next target: ending health care fraud.

President Trump announced Monday the creation of a task force devoted to ending fraud, waste, and abuse in all federal benefits. On Tuesday, the administration expanded its Medicare and Medicaid fraud probe to Republican-led Florida.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services head Mehmet Oz — a former television star — has become the administration’s face, publishing numerous videos, social media posts and regulations that tout the agency’s commitment to crushing fraud in hospice, home health, durable medical equipment, and other industries. In January, CMS threatened to withhold roughly $2 billion in funding for 14 Medicaid services in Minnesota for the next year.

To the disability community, the crackdown feels less like the administration is rooting out crime and more like it is using fraud as an excuse to cut critical services — especially after the administration’s tax bill last year that slashed Medicaid funding by $1 trillion over 10 years, forcing state health officials to consider ending critical services like home care for ...