Elon Musk now has his eyes on Medicare and Medicaid

With Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency looking across the federal government to save money, perhaps the only surprise is that he didn’t get to Medicare and Medicaid sooner.

Musk is looking at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, just as he’s been examining the systems of the Department of Treasury and a host of other agencies. At the behest of President Trump, Musk says he’s aiming to slash wasteful spending in the federal government.

The move comes at a time when hospitals have said they are worried about cuts to Medicaid, which enables Americans with low incomes to get access to healthcare. Medicaid also provides critical funds to hospitals.

The CMS programs touch the lives of 160 million people, representing almost half of all Americans, through Medicare, Medicaid, and the Children’s Health Insurance Program. The CMS budget for 2025 is $1.5 trillion.

The agency issued a statement saying that the agency is cooperating with DOGE.

“CMS has two senior Agency veterans – one focused on policy and one focused on operations – who are leading the collaboration with DOGE, including ensuring appropriate access to CMS systems and technology,” the agency said in a statement. “We are taking a thoughtful approach to see where there may be opportunities for more effective and efficient use of resources in line with meeting the goals of President Trump.”

In a post Thursday on X, the social media platform he owns, Musk cited a previous report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office that found over $100 billion in improper payments from Medicare and Medicaid in 2023, payments that were either in the incorrect amount or shouldn’t have been made. Referencing the report, Musk wrote, “At least.” (Musk’s bio on X now reads: “White House Tech Support.”)

And in a post Wednesday, citing a Wall Street Journal report that Musk is looking at CMS, he wrote, without elaboration, “This is where the big money fraud is happening.”

Democratic lawmakers have expressed alarm at Musk gaining access to sensitive records of Americans. Sen. Tina Smith, a Democrat from Minnesota, criticized Musk gaining access to CMS.

“Elon Musk is now snooping around in your family’s health insurance records at CMS. Why? Because he’s on a power trip and wants to see how he can gut their benefits under the guise that things he doesn’t like is ‘fraud,’” Smith wrote on X.

Hospitals have feared the possibility of cuts to Medicaid under the Trump administration. While Trump has voted to preserve Medicare and Social Security, he has made no assurances about funding for Medicaid, and analysts suspect that’s an area where Trump could consider cuts. Medicaid offers critical funding for safety-net hospitals and rural hospitals.

Chip Kahn, president and CEO of the Federation of American Hospitals, told Chief Healthcare Executive® that hospitals would be hurt by cuts to Medicaid.

‘The Medicaid program for health care and hospitals today is so important for so many lower income Americans, and it's just critical that that program be sustained,” he says.

Lisa Kidder Hrobsky, senior vice president of federal relations, advocacy and political affairs for the American Hospital Association, told Chief Healthcare Executive® last month that hospitals will be arguing forcefully to preserve Medicaid funding.

“Medicaid is a fairly large target for some people, and they want to take a look at it,” Kidder Hrobsky said last month. “So we are definitely prepared, beefing up all of our data on Medicaid, making certain that we are able to tell the best story for Medicaid and the patients and the consumers who are part of it.”

Protect Our Care, an advocacy group, is airing new commercials to preserve Medicaid funding as part of its “Hands Off Medicaid” campaign.

Trump has nominated Mehmet Oz, MD, the former TV talk show host, to run the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Trump’s choice of Oz hasn’t drawn the intense firestorm of opposition as Robert F. Kennedy Jr., his choice to lead the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. While Oz is a doctor, critics point out that Oz lacks experiencing running a large health organization.

Representatives of DOGE have also gained access to the system in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, The Washington Post reported.

The Justice Department said it would temporarily prohibit Musk and DOGE from accessing the Treasury Department’s payment systems, NBC News reported Thursday. Unions have filed a suit against the Treasury Department claiming that allowing DOGE access to the Treasury systems violates federal privacy laws.