Hawaiʻi’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit received roughly $3 million from the federal government in 2025 to root out kickbacks, phantom billing, and other forms of healthcare fraud.
Now that funding is up in the air, as the Department of Health and Human Services denied the unit’s recertification last week.
Federal leaders have repeatedly put Hawaiʻi’s program in the crosshairs as an example of mismanagement.
Gov. Josh Green convened a strike force on June 4 to tackle Medicaid abuse with the hopes of convincing the federal government to change its mind.
The strike force is run under the state Department of Human Services, and former Trump White House lawyer Mike Purpura was also tapped to support the group.
DHS director Joseph Campos II spoke with HPR's The Conversation about the new strike force housed in his department and defended the work of Medicaid fraud investigators.
Interview highlights
On Hawaiʻi Medicaid fraud cases, funding a fraud unit
JOSEPH CAMPOS II: Hawaiʻi has had civil convictions. We've had civil cases in which I believe we've recouped $14 million. So, I think that's important to recognize. So, it's not just criminal prosecution that reflects how appropriate or how effective your fraud unit detection or fraud unit control is performing.
CAMPOS II: I look at the fact that if you're going to fund a Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, you're funding them to do the job to ensure that fraud is detected, and if it's not detected, they're still doing the work. So to say that you need to have a specific threshold of convictions when there may not be that level doesn't really equate. You're funding a unit to ensure that fraud is detected, but if there is no fraud, then you're still funding the unit to do the work. … So, the fact that, according to the Attorney General's office, since 2021, more than $14 million in judgment settlements and recoveries were received shows that the unit was doing the work necessary that they were receiving funding for. So, I think that it's a very problematic perception or perspective to say, “Well, we paid you x amount, so thus you need y amount in recovery.”
On Purpura’s involvement in the strike task force
CAMPOS II: Purpura has a long-standing familiarity with the state of Hawaiʻi. … The firm that he's with, Hueston Hennigan, is a nationally recognized firm for its work on high-profile investigations, complex litigation, and government enforcement matters. So, I think what's important to really put forward is the concept that fraud is not a partisan issue. All of us, no matter where we lie on the political spectrum, we all want to ensure that public funds, taxpayer dollars, are expended appropriately. … I think Gov. Green wants to show that we are as serious as the federal government is in preventing fraud and detecting fraud, and if (it) so happens that one of the experts in the area used to work for the federal government, used to work for President Trump during the first Trump administration, so be it. It is not a partisan issue. It is an issue to ensure that we protect the fiduciary responsibilities that the state of Hawaiʻi has, and that we move forward in a way that is most efficient for the state.
On the six-month deadline to set up the strike force, goals
CAMPOS II: We will be setting up the task force. It'll include executives of DHS with specific knowledge of Medicaid. It will include members from the Attorney General's office. So we'll immediately set that up. We’ll immediately start the process, figure out, do an assessment of what's needed, really do a deep dive into the letter that came out, making sure that we understand the parameters that we need to address, and then, of course, maybe within two or three months, already have a draft of the report ready, so that we can ensure that we are performing appropriately and addressing all the necessary matters that have been brought up.
CAMPOS: The top goal is to recertify Hawaiʻi's Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, first and foremost. Right after that, it's to ensure that all the processes that we have in place are appropriate. I believe they currently are. The fact again (is) that since 2021, the state, through the Medicaid Fraud Unit, has recovered $14 million in settlements and agreements. I think (it) already shows that they know what they're doing.
This story aired on The Conversation on June 8, 2026. The Conversation airs weekdays at 11 a.m. Hannah Kaʻiulani Coburn adapted this interview for the web.
