The White House has confirmed that Vice President JD Vance will visit Bangor on Thursday.On Monday, the Maine Republican Party announced that Vance would be speaking at the Bangor International Airport at 12:30 p.m. Thursday.On Tuesday, the White House revealed that during Vance’s visit to Bangor, he will deliver remarks on the Trump administration’s efforts to combat fraud.On Jan. 23, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced that an audit revealed Maine made at least $45.6 million in improper fee-for-service Medicaid payments for rehabilitative and community support (RCS) services provided to children diagnosed with autism.Two weeks later, U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz said in a social media post that Maine needed to “clean up its act” when it came to Medicaid fraud. CMS also sent a letter to the Maine Department of Health and Human Services, in which it asked Gov. Janet Mills to explain how MaineCare — the state’s Medicaid program — prevents fraud, identifies when fraud happens, bans providers from billing the system and recovers misspent funds. Mills responded to that letter by saying Maine was facing “a political attack” from President Donald Trump.During his State of the Union address on Feb. 24, Trump accused Maine of fraud and announced a “war on fraud” that would be led by Vance. In a statement responding to Trump’s claim, a spokesperson for Mills said Maine would “not be intimidated by the president’s threats” and said addressing fraud allegations should be a joint effort between the state and federal government.On March 6, Mills announced that her administration had responded to the CMS request for information about MaineCare and said the state was conducting oversight to ensure MaineCare providers are held to high standards, adding that the state has robust enforcement mechanisms to identify fraud.Nonprofit’s MaineCare overpayment In December 2025, 8 Investigates received documents showing Gateway Community Services, a nonprofit organization that works with Somali immigrants in Maine, was overpaid $662,608 by the state between 2015 and 2018. The Maine Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) said the overpayment finding was the result of two multiyear audits that were conducted as a result of complaints.Less than a month later, a DHHS spokesperson informed 8 Investigates that the Office of MaineCare Services’ Program Integrity Unit had launched a third audit in January 2023 in response to internal data analytics. The review found Gateway Community Services was overpaid $1,068,598 from March 2021 through December 2022.An attorney representing Gateway Community Services confirmed in an email to 8 Investigates that the organization received a new notice from the Program Integrity Unit indicating that the nonprofit’s MaineCare reimbursements were paused over assertions of improper billing for interpreter services.In a statement issued in January, Mills said she supports a full investigation into Gateway Community Services amid the fraud allegations.Maine’s Total Coverage political reporter Jackie Mundry contributed to this report.
The White House has confirmed that Vice President JD Vance will visit Bangor on Thursday.
On Monday, the Maine Republican Party announced that Vance would be speaking at the Bangor International Airport at 12:30 p.m. Thursday.
On Tuesday, the White House revealed that during Vance’s visit to Bangor, he will deliver remarks on the Trump administration’s efforts to combat fraud.
On Jan. 23, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced that an audit revealed Maine made at least $45.6 million in improper fee-for-service Medicaid payments for rehabilitative and community support (RCS) services provided to children diagnosed with autism.
Two weeks later, U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz said in a social media post that Maine needed to “clean up its act” when it came to Medicaid fraud. CMS also sent a letter to the Maine Department of Health and Human Services, in which it asked Gov. Janet Mills to explain how MaineCare — the state’s Medicaid program — prevents fraud, identifies when fraud happens, bans providers from billing the system and recovers misspent funds. Mills responded to that letter by saying Maine was facing “a political attack” from President Donald Trump.
During his State of the Union address on Feb. 24, Trump accused Maine of fraud and announced a “war on fraud” that would be led by Vance. In a statement responding to Trump’s claim, a spokesperson for Mills said Maine would “not be intimidated by the president’s threats” and said addressing fraud allegations should be a joint effort between the state and federal government.
On March 6, Mills announced that her administration had responded to the CMS request for information about MaineCare and said the state was conducting oversight to ensure MaineCare providers are held to high standards, adding that the state has robust enforcement mechanisms to identify fraud.
Nonprofit’s MaineCare overpayment
In December 2025, 8 Investigates received documents showing Gateway Community Services, a nonprofit organization that works with Somali immigrants in Maine, was overpaid $662,608 by the state between 2015 and 2018. The Maine Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) said the overpayment finding was the result of two multiyear audits that were conducted as a result of complaints.
Less than a month later, a DHHS spokesperson informed 8 Investigates that the Office of MaineCare Services’ Program Integrity Unit had launched a third audit in January 2023 in response to internal data analytics. The review found Gateway Community Services was overpaid $1,068,598 from March 2021 through December 2022.
An attorney representing Gateway Community Services confirmed in an email to 8 Investigates that the organization received a new notice from the Program Integrity Unit indicating that the nonprofit’s MaineCare reimbursements were paused over assertions of improper billing for interpreter services.
In a statement issued in January, Mills said she supports a full investigation into Gateway Community Services amid the fraud allegations.
Maine’s Total Coverage political reporter Jackie Mundry contributed to this report.