Trump administration recertifies MaineCare fraud unit but demands improvements
Attorney General Aaron Frey and Gov. Janet Mills in May 2025. (Anna Chadwick/ Staff Phographer)
President Donald Trump’s administration has given Maine about two months to fix “deficiencies” in its anti-Medicaid fraud unit or risk losing its federal certification.
Department of Health and Human Services Inspector General T. March Bell sent a letter dated July 2 to Maine Attorney General Aaron Frey and Bill Savage, the director of the Healthcare Crimes Unit within Frey’s office, to inform them that the Trump administration is recertifying Maine’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit for 60 days.
That recertification is at risk of going away, however, if the state does not take “corrective actions,” and Bell wrote that the federal government could also seek unspecified “financial remedies” if Maine does not meet its requests for improvement.
The federal notice is the latest development in a drawn-out tussle between Republicans and Democratic Gov. Janet Mills’ administration over whether MaineCare, the state’s Medicaid program, is operating properly. Although this month’s letter from the federal government had a professional tone and complimented Maine for cooperation, Trump and his allies — including Vice President JD Vance during a May visit to Bangor — have not shied away from bashing Mills and accusing the state of ignoring Medicaid fraud.
Frey’s office provided the Portland Press Herald with a copy of the letter Wednesday and said it has no additional comment.
Bell began his seven-page note by telling Frey and Savage that Maine gets about $1.9 million per year from the federal government for its fraud unit. Although the fraud unit has taken steps to improve, the inspector general said the state must do more to “ensure that the unit operates at the standard taxpayers expect.”
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He dinged it specifically for getting no fraud convictions or indictments in the 2025 fiscal year and recovering $0 from civil fraud cases.
Maine’s unit had 10 staffers at the end of last year, but because the state has more than $5.2 billion in Medicaid expenses and is planning to “significantly” increase the number of referrals to the unit, the inspector general found Maine should have 15 staff members. The unit indicated its plans to hire an additional investigator, but needs more staff than that, Bell said.
Last fiscal year, the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit said it received 43 fraud referrals, and in 2024, it received 41 overall referrals, per the inspector general’s letter. For the last three years, Bell noted Maine’s unit reported five fraud convictions.
The Trump administration has given Maine 30 days from the July 2 letter to provide the inspector general’s office with a staffing plan that specifies the positions it will add or fill. Within 60 days, the state’s fraud control unit must provide the inspector general with a progress report and demonstrate “significant progress” on fixing the “staffing deficiencies,” per the letter.
Maine needs to offer similar action plans and improvements for increasing the number of referrals to the fraud unit. It also must improve “coordination” with the federal inspector general’s Office of Investigations, per the inspector general. That includes having meetings with the federal office at least once a month, according to the inspector general’s letter.
In December, the Mills administration suspended payments to a Portland nonprofit, Gateway Community Services, that provides healthcare services to immigrants after an audit found overpayments. Gateway officials denied wrongdoing.
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State Auditor Matt Dunlap, a Democrat, has also flagged issues with MaineCare’s financial controls, while a conservative group is seeking to force the state to mandate in-person inspections of MaineCare providers, and require payment suspensions if improper payments occur.
The state’s Medicaid fraud unit has been more active prosecuting cases in the past. According to a review of federal data that the Press Herald conducted in January, Maine’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit has investigated an average of 76 cases annually in the last decade and recovered about $5.2 million annually.
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Tagged: mainecare, Medicaid fraud
Billy covers politics for the Press Herald. He joined the newsroom in 2026 after also covering politics for the Bangor Daily News for about two and a half years. Before moving to Maine in 2023, the Wisconsin. More by Billy Kobin
