Indiana Governor Mike Braun didn’t mince words on Newsmax when he laid out how his administration tackled fraud and waste in the Hoosier State’s Medicaid rolls, and hardworking Americans should take notice. Braun proudly reported an 11 percent reduction in Medicaid enrollment since he took office and said those reforms will free up hundreds of millions in taxpayer dollars — exactly the kind of fiscal responsibility voters expect. While career politicians in Washington talk, governors like Braun actually roll up their sleeves, audit the books, and cut out the rot.
The results aren’t just slogans: Braun told viewers his team identified more than 10,000 people who should have been on Medicare instead of Medicaid and uncovered cross-state double-dipping that was quietly bleeding the system. That aggressive eligibility review is projected to save Indiana roughly $466 million over two years — money that belongs to taxpayers, not fraudsters or bureaucratic slush funds. This is low-hanging fruit that every state should be harvesting, but it takes leaders willing to manage programs, not politicize them.
When asked about national headlines claiming billions stolen in other states, Braun was blunt: fraud on a scale of $9 billion would be impossible for a governor to miss if state officials were doing their job. He’s right — such astronomical losses are a failure of management and oversight, not an unavoidable mystery. Conservatives should stop treating fraud as an abstract talking point and start treating it like the crime against communities and vulnerable folks that it is.
Braun also made a key point conservatives have long known: states have to balance budgets and can’t print money, so they have a practical incentive to crack down on abuse that Washington lacks. That’s why Senate paralysis and a federal appetite for expansion without accountability only makes things worse; you can’t reform what you won’t even audit. If Republicans want to win on governance, they should champion state-led audits, work requirement clarity, real-time eligibility checks, and consequences for officials who look the other way.
The human cost of this waste is plain — dollars stolen from nutrition programs, housing support, and medical care mean less help for kids, seniors, and disabled Americans who truly need it. We should be tough on fraud: prosecute criminals, ban providers who scam the system, and strip funding from states that refuse basic oversight. The left’s reflex to defend big government programs while ignoring how they’re run is a moral failure; conservatives must be the voice of both compassion and accountability.
Voters deserve leaders who protect taxpayers and prioritize results over headlines, and Gov. Braun’s approach is a blueprint for conservative governance done right. It’s time Republicans in Congress and at the state level stop the speeches and start the audits, back governors who act, and demand real reform that puts American families first. Patriots who work for a living should expect nothing less than fierce stewardship of the public purse.
