Kennedy Says California’s Medicaid Program Has Gone Off the Rails
Sen. John Kennedy of Louisiana used a Senate hearing to shine a bright light on what he says is one of the strangest Medicaid stories in the country. According to Kennedy, California’s Medi-Cal program has been reimbursing providers for exorcisms and other faith-based healing practices. That is not exactly the kind of health care most taxpayers think they signed up for. Kennedy’s point was simple: if the state is using federal and state money this way, then somebody ought to explain why it took so long for anyone in Washington to notice. In a country where families are struggling to pay for real medical care, the idea that public funds could be used for spiritual services is enough to make people stare at their coffee and wonder if the whole system has been run by the same people who think “accountability” is a myth.
The Spending Numbers Are Raising Bigger Questions
The concern is not just about one odd benefit. California’s Medicaid spending has reportedly more than doubled since 2019, climbing from about $100.7 billion to a projected $222 billion in 2026. That is a massive jump, and it is happening while the Trump administration is already looking at fraud allegations tied to the state’s Medicaid system. Just last week, the administration suspended $1.4 billion in federal funding for California home health and hospice programs after Vice President JD Vance’s anti-fraud task force identified an estimated $600 million in suspected fraud. Kennedy argued that if California is paying for exorcisms and tribal prayers, then taxpayers deserve to know how many of these claims are being filed, who approved them, and why this kind of spending has been allowed to grow in the first place. It is hard to call this normal when the bill keeps getting larger and the explanation keeps getting thinner.
Federal Oversight Is Finally Catching Up
Kennedy pressed acting Attorney General Todd Blanche during the hearing and said California is responsible for a huge share of new health providers offering these services. He asked bluntly what officials are doing about it and why the issue has been ignored for so long. That is the right question. Government programs need guardrails, not a “trust us, it’s all spiritual” approach to taxpayer money. If a state wants to support faith-based care with private donations, that is one thing. But if public health dollars are being used for exorcisms, then voters should expect serious oversight, not a shrug and a press release. The bigger lesson here is that fraud does not always wear a mask and sneak through the back door. Sometimes it walks in wearing a badge, carries a stack of forms, and calls itself policy.
"Some states like California… they see this as free money, don't they?"
Sen. John Kennedy calls out reports that California’s Medicaid program reimburses providers for tribal prayers and exorcisms:
SEN. KENNEDY: "California will actually pay a health care provider, I didn't… pic.twitter.com/cbpTydxlWK
— Fox News (@FoxNews) May 19, 2026
California’s Culture of Spending Deserves More Scrutiny
California leaders have spent years selling themselves as the smartest people in the room, yet the state keeps producing headline after headline that makes basic common sense look like a rare commodity. Kennedy’s comments hit a nerve because many Americans are tired of hearing that every wasteful program is just too complicated to fix. It is not complicated. If Medicaid dollars are going toward exorcisms, that should stop. If fraudulent claims are draining the system, those claims should be blocked. And if officials cannot explain how this happened, then maybe they should stop giving lectures and start answering questions. People who work hard and pay taxes should not be forced to bankroll government experiments that sound more like a late-night joke than public policy.
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