Decoding the Moment: States Weigh in on Medicaid Fraud

A Conversation with Amir Bassiri, MSW, Drew Gonshorowski, MS, and Kevin Lownds, JD, moderated by Dan Gorenstein

12:30p.m. – 1:30p.m. ET September 17, 2026 Virtual Event

The Trump administration has been making headlines with its focus on fraud in federal programs, including Medicaid. Federal officials have demanded states provide extensive information about their fraud fighting efforts. They’ve also frozen billions of dollars in Medicaid payments to several Democrat-led states and revoked federal funding of anti-fraud units in others. The message from the administration is that states are not doing enough to combat fraud in Medicaid.

How much fraud is there and how do states try to prevent and prosecute it? How have states and the federal government traditionally partnered in this work? What impact have the administration’s anti-fraud actions had on states’ abilities to address fraud and provide medical care to the tens of millions of low-income Americans they serve? 

In the next virtual event in the “Decoding the Moment” series presented by Penn LDI and Tradeoffs, our panel of state Medicaid leaders will share their perspectives on program integrity and the opportunities, challenges, and tradeoffs of the administration’s aggressive anti-fraud push.

About the Decoding the Moment series

The Trump administration’s sweeping efforts to reshape federal health policy have created a fast-moving, uncertain landscape for the health care sector and policymakers. In response, Penn LDI and Tradeoffs’ “Decoding the Moment” series provides timely, evidence-based discussions with leading experts on key federal policy changes. The series explores the implications of recent actions and what they signal for the future. Past events have focused on the health impacts of the “One Big Beautiful Bill,” Obamacare subsidies at a crossroads, new rules for vaccine approvals, cuts to violence prevention programs, and contextualizing the rural health transformation program.

Views expressed are those of the speakers and do not necessarily represent those of Tradeoffs, the University of Pennsylvania Health System (Penn Medicine), or the University of Pennsylvania.


Speakers

Amir Bassiri

Amir Bassiri, MSW

Medicaid Director, New York State Department of Health

Drew Gonshorowski
·

Drew Gonshorowski, MS

Former Medicaid Director, State of Nebraska


Kevin Lownds

Kevin Lownds, JD

Division Chief, Medicaid Fraud Division, Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office


Dan Gorenstein

Dan Gorenstein (moderator)

Founder and Executive Editor, Tradeoffs