Vice President JD Vance visited Maine on Thursday and he discussed the White House’s efforts to combat fraud during an appearance at Bangor International Airport.During his address, Vance said Maine may be the third- or fourth-worst state when it comes to fraud.”Outside of Minnesota and California, which are probably No. 1 and No. 2, if they’re the gold medalist and silver medalist — I heard somebody shout out New York — maybe New York is the bronze medalist, but let me be honest, maybe Maine is the bronze medalist,” Vance said. “What you have in Maine is a festering problem where people have been taken advantage of and they’ve been stolen from, and your government hasn’t done anything about it.” Maine Gov. Janet Mills and her administration have been at odds with the federal government on the issue of fraud over the last few months.Vance was highly critical of Mills, saying she is one of the biggest reasons why Maine has one of the worst fraud problems in the country. The vice president also claimed Mills has fought back against the Trump administration’s efforts to identify fraud in Medicaid and Medicare programs.”I would love to work with the governor of Maine to stop the fraud that’s being perpetrated in this state. This should not be a red state or a blue state issue. This isn’t Republican or Democrat. This is common sense. This is protecting every single person in this room from being defrauded by their own government,” Vance said. Watch Vance’s entire address in the YouTube video embedded below:Vance also lauded former Gov. Paul LePage, a Republican who is running for Maine’s 2nd Congressional District seat in the U.S. House of Representatives.”He took concrete action to try to fight back against fraud,” Vance said. “You have a governor who hasn’t fought for you. Let’s send a governor who did fight for you to the U.S. Congress. Let’s send Paul LePage to the U.S. House.”In a statement responding to Vance’s comments, Mills said she has always cracked down on fraud during her time as governor, Maine attorney general and a district attorney, and often worked hand-in-hand with the federal government.”The remarks by the vice president today are nothing but a weak attempt to distract from the Trump administration’s failing agenda, endless war in Iran, and failure to control crushing costs — including sky high gas prices — that Maine families and businesses are struggling with every day,” Mills said in her statement. “Maine people deserved to hear about how the Trump administration is making their lives better by lowering costs, improving health care, building housing, and fixing child care — but we got none of that because the president and vice president don’t actually care about these issues or the hardships they are causing our state and people.”Whenever we identify credible allegations of fraud, they are referred to the attorney general, who works in partnership with federal law enforcement. We often coordinate with the federal government to ensure the integrity of criminal investigations, which can last for months or even years,” Mills added. “My administration has implemented license requirements for many Medicaid service providers, some for the first time ever, to hold them to high standards of care and accountability. And when the federal government requested more information about how we address fraud, as the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services did earlier this year, we provided a comprehensive and thorough response.”Vance’s visit came one day after the Trump administration announced a six-month freeze on any new Medicare enrollments by hospice and home health agencies.Trump administration’s allegations of fraud in MaineOn 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, Centers for Medicare and 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.MaineCare overpayments to nonprofitIn 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.How Democrats are respondingMaine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, a Democratic candidate for governor, was set to appear at a rally hosted by Indivisible Bangor and Activate Maine to push back against Vance’s appearance.Former Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr. Nirav Shah, also Democratic gubernatorial candidate, issued a statement ahead of Vance’s visit that criticized the Trump administration’s policies that he says are driving up prices across the state.”Everything costs more in Maine than it did a year ago, and there is one reason for that: the Trump administration. Heating oil is up. Gas is up because Donald Trump dragged us into a war in Iran. Groceries are up while this administration takes food off the table for hungry kids. Health care is about to cost more because of Medicaid cuts that are pushing our rural hospitals to the brink. And the tariffs coming out of Washington are hurting Maine small businesses every single day. That is the record JD Vance is bringing to Maine on Thursday. That is the record the Maine Republicans hosting him are ‘honored’ to celebrate,” Shah said in his statement.Maine Democratic Party Chairman Charlie Dingman also issued a statement ahead of Vance’s visit, saying that Mainers are feeling the consequences of the Trump administration every day.” Costs are rising and working families are being left behind while Maine Republicans cheer on the Trump administration’s disastrous policies. By welcoming and celebrating JD Vance’s visit, Republican candidates up and down the ballot are tying themselves to the MAGA agenda that’s driving up costs and hurting Maine families,” Dingman said in his statement. “Maine voters won’t forget it in November.”Maine’s Total Coverage political reporter Jackie Mundry contributed to this report.
Vice President JD Vance visited Maine on Thursday and he discussed the White House’s efforts to combat fraud during an appearance at Bangor International Airport.
During his address, Vance said Maine may be the third- or fourth-worst state when it comes to fraud.
“Outside of Minnesota and California, which are probably No. 1 and No. 2, if they’re the gold medalist and silver medalist — I heard somebody shout out New York — maybe New York is the bronze medalist, but let me be honest, maybe Maine is the bronze medalist,” Vance said. “What you have in Maine is a festering problem where people have been taken advantage of and they’ve been stolen from, and your government hasn’t done anything about it.”
Maine Gov. Janet Mills and her administration have been at odds with the federal government on the issue of fraud over the last few months.
Vance was highly critical of Mills, saying she is one of the biggest reasons why Maine has one of the worst fraud problems in the country. The vice president also claimed Mills has fought back against the Trump administration’s efforts to identify fraud in Medicaid and Medicare programs.
“I would love to work with the governor of Maine to stop the fraud that’s being perpetrated in this state. This should not be a red state or a blue state issue. This isn’t Republican or Democrat. This is common sense. This is protecting every single person in this room from being defrauded by their own government,” Vance said.
Watch Vance’s entire address in the YouTube video embedded below:
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Vance also lauded former Gov. Paul LePage, a Republican who is running for Maine’s 2nd Congressional District seat in the U.S. House of Representatives.
“He took concrete action to try to fight back against fraud,” Vance said. “You have a governor who hasn’t fought for you. Let’s send a governor who did fight for you to the U.S. Congress. Let’s send Paul LePage to the U.S. House.”
In a statement responding to Vance’s comments, Mills said she has always cracked down on fraud during her time as governor, Maine attorney general and a district attorney, and often worked hand-in-hand with the federal government.
“The remarks by the vice president today are nothing but a weak attempt to distract from the Trump administration’s failing agenda, endless war in Iran, and failure to control crushing costs — including sky high gas prices — that Maine families and businesses are struggling with every day,” Mills said in her statement. “Maine people deserved to hear about how the Trump administration is making their lives better by lowering costs, improving health care, building housing, and fixing child care — but we got none of that because the president and vice president don’t actually care about these issues or the hardships they are causing our state and people.
“Whenever we identify credible allegations of fraud, they are referred to the attorney general, who works in partnership with federal law enforcement. We often coordinate with the federal government to ensure the integrity of criminal investigations, which can last for months or even years,” Mills added. “My administration has implemented license requirements for many Medicaid service providers, some for the first time ever, to hold them to high standards of care and accountability. And when the federal government requested more information about how we address fraud, as the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services did earlier this year, we provided a comprehensive and thorough response.”
Vance’s visit came one day after the Trump administration announced a six-month freeze on any new Medicare enrollments by hospice and home health agencies.
Trump administration’s allegations of fraud in Maine
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, Centers for Medicare and 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.
MaineCare overpayments to nonprofit
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.
How Democrats are responding
Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, a Democratic candidate for governor, was set to appear at a rally hosted by Indivisible Bangor and Activate Maine to push back against Vance’s appearance.
Former Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr. Nirav Shah, also Democratic gubernatorial candidate, issued a statement ahead of Vance’s visit that criticized the Trump administration’s policies that he says are driving up prices across the state.
“Everything costs more in Maine than it did a year ago, and there is one reason for that: the Trump administration. Heating oil is up. Gas is up because Donald Trump dragged us into a war in Iran. Groceries are up while this administration takes food off the table for hungry kids. Health care is about to cost more because of Medicaid cuts that are pushing our rural hospitals to the brink. And the tariffs coming out of Washington are hurting Maine small businesses every single day. That is the record JD Vance is bringing to Maine on Thursday. That is the record the Maine Republicans hosting him are ‘honored’ to celebrate,” Shah said in his statement.
Maine Democratic Party Chairman Charlie Dingman also issued a statement ahead of Vance’s visit, saying that Mainers are feeling the consequences of the Trump administration every day.
” Costs are rising and working families are being left behind while Maine Republicans cheer on the Trump administration’s disastrous policies. By welcoming and celebrating JD Vance’s visit, Republican candidates up and down the ballot are tying themselves to the MAGA agenda that’s driving up costs and hurting Maine families,” Dingman said in his statement. “Maine voters won’t forget it in November.”
Maine’s Total Coverage political reporter Jackie Mundry contributed to this report.