Trump administration urges Congress to adopt mandatory minimums for benefit fraud
The White House has delivered a draft bill to congressional leaders that would set mandatory minimum prison terms for fraud against Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security.
The administration submitted a legislative draft to House and Senate leadership that would impose fixed minimum prison sentences on individuals convicted of defrauding federal benefit programs such as Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security. Sentencing tiers would be based on the monetary loss, ranging from a minimum of one year for losses below $40,000 to at least 20 years for schemes causing $100 million or more, with life imprisonment as the ceiling for all offenses.
Courts would be prohibited from granting probation or reducing sentences for these cases. The proposal further seeks to make any state officer or employee who knowingly disregards fraud personally responsible, allowing civil recovery of damages up to the total loss or up to three times that amount if losses exceed $1 million. The measure arrives after President Donald Trump called for stronger action against benefit program fraud, and it now awaits congressional consideration.
Why it matters
It could dramatically increase penalties for benefit fraud and expand liability for state officials.
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