Taxpayers Spent $56 Million On Improper Medicaid Claims, White House Says

Taxpayers spent $56 billion on Medicaid last year for able-bodied adults abusing the program, according to a new report released by the White House Tuesday.

The report claims that 44% of able-bodied Medicaid recipients without children worked less than 20 hours a week in 2024, using 11% of the government’s annual Medicaid funds.

The White House stressed the need for more stringent work requirements for adults on Medicaid, citing studies that link unemployment to drug abuse, poor mental health and suicide.

“We find substantial evidence that work is beneficial and unemployment is harmful for individuals across a range of domains,” the report says. “The mechanisms include not only the value of earned income and employee benefits but also the social interaction, structure, and sense of purpose that come from working.”

Underscoring this argument, the report notes that there were 6.5 million able-bodied, childless Medicaid recipients of working age who reported making no income in 2024.

Medicaid work requirements have been a disputed issue in Congress this year as Republicans seek to make President Donald Trump’s “big, beautiful bill” law. Republicans are looking to cut fraud and abuse from the Medicaid program to find money for Trump’s sweeping domestic policy agenda, citing the upswing in fraud within the program in recent years.

The Republican’s funding package currently sits in the U.S. Senate, where leadership is ironing out details for their version of the legislation. Senate Finance Committee Chairman Sen. Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, released his portion of the bill Monday. His committee has jurisdiction over Medicaid.

The Finance Committee’s text goes farther than the House of Representatives in its work requirements for Medicaid recipients. While the House’s version excuses parents with dependent children of any age from logging work hours, Crapo amended this provision to only exempt parents with dependent children under the age of 15.