Jill Mazza Olson, deputy director for health care reform at the Vermont Agency of Human Services, speaks before the Senate Health and Welfare Committee at the Statehouse in Montpelier on Wednesday, January 14, 2026. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDigger Vermont is the target of the latest federal prob e into Medicaid fraud, waste and abuse.  On March 3, state officials received a letter from representatives on Congress’s Committee on Energy and Commerce requesting information on the state’s Medicaid program. The state has until March 17 to respond. The committee sent nine other states — including Maine and Massachusetts — similar requests for information. The letter cites the federal investigation into Minnesota’s Medicaid program surrounding suspected fraud, waste and abuse in how health care providers bill the health coverage program for those with low income. “The Committee is concerned that your state’s Medicaid programs may be similarly vulnerable to (fraud, waste and abuse) that harms Medicaid enrollees, legitimate providers, and taxpayers,” the letter reads.   Vermont has long been reliant on federal dollars in the federal-state partnership program. In 2024, the program spent $2.3 billion, $1.45 billion of which was drawn down from the feds. More than 156,900 Vermonters rely on the program, the letter cites.   In January, the Department of Vermont Health Access, which administers Vermont Medicaid, requested a $33 million budget adjustment from the federal government to cover this year’s Medicaid costs. The congressional letter says that Vermont’s reliance on Medicaid makes it “high risk” for fraud, waste and abuse. The authors go on to cite a number of cases of such errors that the Medicaid Fraud and Residential Abuse Unit that the state’s Attorney General’s Office has pursued. That included a $200,000 settlement the Burlington mental health care provider Eden Valley had to pay for submitting more than 150 false records on 50 Medicaid claims.  Another example detailed the felony Medicaid fraud charges the Vermont Attorney General’s Office brought against the Lamoille County couple for submitting thousands of dollars worth of false timesheets for caretaking by an unauthorized provider. The authors write that home health, community care and mental health care, such as those listed, are particularly susceptible to Medicaid fraud.  They single out Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA) therapy for those with autism. At the end of 2025, Vermont Medicaid implemented a controversial change to how it bills for ABA therapy, citing these concerns of fraud, waste and abuse. At the time, the state program expressed a desire to be “proactive” against scrutiny from the federal government that could more deeply jeopardize Medicaid services.   The congressional committee requested the state Agency of Human Services provide it with further information about how Vermont investigates and protects against Medicaid fraud.  In a statement, the agency said it is currently working with the Department of Vermont Health Access on its response to comply with the committee’s March 17 deadline. “Vermont takes program integrity seriously and maintains safeguards to ensure Medicaid resources are used appropriately,” the agency’s spokesperson, Ted Fisher, wrote in a statement. “Vermont’s program integrity teams work closely with the Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud and Residential Abuse Unit to investigate and address suspected fraud.” This story may be updated. Read the story on VTDigger here: Vermont targeted in federal investigation of Medicaid waste, fraud and abuse . ...read more read less