Health Agencies Use AI to Catch Fraud in Public Programs

The U. S. Department of Health and Human Services has started a new effort that uses artificial intelligence to sift through years of audit reports. The project, called the Audit Enforcement and Risk Oversight initiative or AERO, will examine at least five years of data from programs funded by the department in all 50 states. This step follows a broader push to curb healthcare scams that began during the previous administration, which set up a national anti‑fraud task force led by Vice President J. D. Vance. In March, that administration announced a plan to stop new home‑care and hospice providers from joining Medicare for six months because of fraud concerns.HHS says many grantees have not filed the required audits, and some are more than two years late. The agency plans to work with states and the grantees themselves to fix problems and improve internal controls. If issues are not resolved, HHS may pause payments, cut grants entirely, or withhold future funding. Under federal law, any state, local government, nonprofit, or university that spends $1 million or more in federal money each year must be audited. The new AI‑driven review aims to tighten oversight and reduce waste in these programs.