American taxpayers are losing billions of dollars every year to Medicare and Medicaid fraud, according to a bombshell report by the House Committee on Energy and Commerce. One of the most outrageous examples of fraud highlighted in the report involved a scammer who allegedly billed Colorado Medicaid more than $150,000 for non-emergency medical transportation services supposedly provided to a man who was already dead.
The House report noted that fraud is a problem throughout the health care industry, but it’s particularly egregious when scammers take advantage of programs meant to help some of the most vulnerable Americans, including the elderly, disabled, children, and pregnant women. Is there any line these fraudsters won’t cross?
“Patients are suffering from identity theft, long waiting lists, substandard health care, and, in some cases, a lack of health care services due to fraudulent claims to Medicare and Medicaid,” the report stated. In short: Health care fraud is a life-or-death issue.
Rocky Mountain Fraud – Dead Men Tell No Tales
Wesam Yassin, a resident of Douglas County, Colorado, was charged earlier this year for allegedly defrauding Medicaid’s non-emergent medical transportation program to the tune of $3.3 million under the business name Sama Limo. According to the US Attorney’s Office for the District of Colorado, in one example, Yassin billed the government program $283,000 for transporting a single beneficiary 64 times. Don’t worry, it gets worse: Nearly $165,000 of that amount was for rides allegedly provided after the beneficiary had already died.
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The alleged scammer also billed Colorado Medicaid “for hundreds of thousands of dollars for rides that beneficiaries say never occurred.” Where did all of that taxpayer money go? Authorities said Yassin used it to buy a house, luxury vehicles, furnishings, jewelry, and cosmetic surgery. Yassin was charged with six counts of wire fraud, 11 counts of health care fraud, and eight counts of money laundering.
Ashley Marie Stevens, 40, of Mesa County, allegedly defrauded Colorado Medicaid in a similar fashion for more than $1 million under the business name Armistead Twin Rides, LLC. Part of Stevens’ alleged scam included billing the government program “for more than $400,000 for rides for herself and family members, most of which did not have corresponding medical appointments.” Much like Yassin, Stevens is accused of using the stolen funds for “personal gain,” including travel and at least one luxury vehicle.
Person of the Year: The Fraudster
It seems like not a day goes by without another revelation of fraud involving taxpayer dollars, and the cost to law-abiding Americans is starting to add up. A recent report by the Foundation for Government Accountability (FGA), a watchdog group, states that new federal estimates “show that there is as much as $521 billion in fraud across all federal programs each year.”
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The number jumps to a staggering $3 trillion when including all improper payments made by the federal government since 2003. “Fraud against federal programs now runs about $521 billion a year, or seven percent of everything Washington spends. Only five federal agencies have bigger budgets than that,” the report’s author, Liesel Crocker, told The Center Square. “And that's just the fraud we know about. Of more than 2,200 federal payment programs, only 64 are reviewed for improper payments each year.”
Poor oversight in some states has left welfare programs like Medicaid and food stamps especially vulnerable to fraud, diverting resources away from Americans who genuinely need them. Criminals are buying extravagant homes, luxury cars, cosmetic surgery, fine jewelry, and other extravagant items with money that is meant to help the genuinely needy. It’s enough to make any American taxpayer’s blood boil, especially amid the high cost of living. Perhaps the TIME Person of the Year 2026 should be the fraudster.
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