Trump Asks Congress for Mandatory Prison on Medicare and Social Security Fraud (Video)

President Trump on Saturday asked Congress to end probation for people convicted of stealing from Medicare, Medicaid, or Social Security, and to make sentences rise with the amount taken.

He made the request in a video posted to Truth Social at about 9:12 a.m. Eastern. No bill text has been released. The proposal is not law until Congress passes it.

“Today, I’m calling on Congress to pass legislation to address fraud in Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security programs,” Trump said. He described the programs as benefits meant to care for the sick, feed the hungry, care for children, and protect retirements.

The first piece is a sentencing floor. “Congress must impose mandatory minimum sentences on fraudsters who steal from critical benefit programs,” he said. “Under our proposal, probation is no longer an option for the fraudsters. If you steal from the American people, you will go to prison and for a long period of time. And the more you steal, the longer you’ll stay in that prison.”

He did not publish dollar brackets or the length of any minimum term.

A second conviction would double the sentence. “If you’re a convicted fraudster who gets caught stealing from the American people a second time, your sentence will be doubled,” he said. He did not say whether the doubling would apply to the mandatory minimum, the sentence a judge imposes, or some other figure, or which prior convictions would count.

The second piece is aimed at officials, not only the people who file the claims. “Congress must make sure that crooked and corrupt politicians who willfully turn a blind eye to fraud finally face real consequences,” Trump said. “If a state or local politician knows about fraud and has the ability to stop it, but does nothing about it, they can be personally liable for the full loss of the American taxpayers’ money that they should have stopped and they should have saved.”

He did not define the legal standard for knowledge, what authority would count as the ability to stop a scheme, or how a court would calculate the loss an official “should have saved.”

He closed by saying the proposal would make fraudsters and officials “think long and hard” before stealing or ignoring theft they can stop. “So from now on, fraudsters, we’re watching you.”

Federal law already allows long sentences. Health-care fraud under 18 U.S.C. § 1347 carries up to 10 years, 20 if the scheme causes serious bodily injury, and any term of years or life if it causes death. Social Security fraud under 42 U.S.C. § 408 generally carries up to five years, and up to 10 for some providers and representatives. Those are maximums. Judges may still impose probation or a shorter term unless a statute sets a floor.

The U.S. Sentencing Commission reported 340 federal health-care fraud cases in fiscal 2025, with an average sentence of 21 months, and 965 government-benefits fraud cases, with an average of 16 months. In both sets, about two-thirds of defendants received prison, and about 3 percent were convicted of an offense that already carried a mandatory minimum.

The request follows a June Justice Department health-care fraud takedown that charged 455 defendants, including about 90 doctors and other licensed professionals, in alleged schemes tied to more than $6.5 billion in false claims. Those figures are alleged claims, not adjudicated losses. The defendants are presumed innocent unless convicted.

The video also landed a day after Trump said the administration would send one-time checks of $90, drawn from the Medicare Improvement Fund, to more than 20 million seniors to offset Medicare Part B premiums. The White House fact sheet described that payment as the first use of the fund to lower costs for beneficiaries directly.