Eyeing 2028, Dem Gov Shapiro leans into fraud crackdown, boosting tough-on-crime image
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro will announce Tuesday a landmark false claims clampdown targeting Medicaid fraud and providers that wrongfully use tax dollars.While Shapiro has supported crackdowns on social services fraud...
By Fox News · Fox News
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro will announce Tuesday a landmark false claims clampdown targeting Medicaid fraud and providers that wrongfully use tax dollars. While Shapiro has supported crackdowns on social services fraud since he was attorney general, before his governorship, the issue has reached national prominence recently amid mounting scandal enveloping fellow Democratic Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota. Later Tuesday, Shapiro will declare in his budget address that the state must approve a False Claims Act and signal openness to working with Republicans — who control the state Senate and are a few lawmakers short of a majority in the state House — to "get it done." "To protect our kids and our seniors, we need to make sure every dollar we appropriate for their benefit goes to them and doesn’t get fleeced from the system," Shapiro will say, before going on to cite his work as AG to jail people who stole public benefits from fellow Pennsylvanians . BESSENT BLAMES WALZ AS TREASURY PROBES WHETHER MINNESOTA FRAUD FUNDS REACHED TERROR GROUP AL-SHABAB "We combat fraud wherever we find it — and we’ve put real resources into this effort because it’s important to ensure public dollars go to the people who really need them," Shapiro will say. Pennsylvania ranks first nationally in Medicaid fraud charges brought and third in convictions. He will also cite the work of State Inspector General Michelle Henry — who succeeded him as attorney general — and pledge to support her efforts through cooperation among his Cabinet agencies. WALZ’S MINNESOTA MESS COULD SPARK THE TOUGHEST FRAUD REFORMS IN DECADES While a major Democratic figure nationally, Shapiro has a handful of Republicans in key cabinet roles, including former Philadelphia City Commissioner Al Schmidt as secretary of the commonwealth and former state Sen. Pat Browne, R-Allentown, managing the purse as secretary of revenue. Shapiro said the commonwealth prosecuted 119 cases of Medicaid fraud in 2024, recouping $11 millio…