During his Friday hearing before the House Education and Workforce Committee, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. delivered a devastating rebuttal to Democratic efforts to target Republican healthcare policies. Texas Democrat Rep. Greg Casar questioned whether Kennedy had personally met with Americans who reportedly lost health insurance over the past year. Kennedy responded flatly: “They’re almost all illegal immigrants. We found 1.5 million illegal immigrants illegally collecting Medicaid.”

Kennedy further revealed that nearly a million individuals were simultaneously claiming Medicaid across multiple states—a practice he called “illegal, it’s theft.” He criticized the Biden administration for directing the Health and Human Services (HHS) to halt all program integrity activities, stating he was “shocked” by this directive. Kennedy also disputed responsibility for measles outbreaks, noting they began in January 2025 before his office took charge.

The testimony highlighted HHS estimates that fraud across entitlement programs costs taxpayers approximately $100 billion annually. Kennedy emphasized that under the previous administration’s “pay and chase” system—where fraudulent claims were paid first and then pursued for recovery—the agency had quietly reinstated 850 fraud-suspended providers. Under his leadership, HHS has implemented a “detect and deploy” strategy using AI tools to identify fraudulent payments before issuance, shutting down 500 fraudulent hospices in Los Angeles alone.

Kennedy testified that the Biden administration’s actions enabled millions of Americans to lose coverage while individuals who were never legally entitled to programs exploited federal funds. His testimony directly challenged Democratic narratives about Republican healthcare policies and exposed systemic failures within the current administration’s approach to program integrity.