Representatives from Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) have been working at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), gaining access to agency systems and technology, CMS confirmed Wednesday.
CMS oversees Medicare and Medicaid, which provide health coverage to over 140 million Americans. The agency stated that two senior CMS veterans—one focused on policy, the other on operations—are leading the collaboration to ensure proper access.
Musk, tasked by President Trump to identify government fraud and waste, has quickly gained influence over federal operations. “We are taking a thoughtful approach to identify opportunities for efficiency while meeting President Trump’s goals,” CMS said.
CMS frequently handles improper payments, which may result from fraud, abuse, or administrative errors. According to The Wall Street Journal, DOGE representatives have been reviewing CMS payment and contracting systems, as well as organizational structure and spending, to detect inefficiencies.
Musk, without providing evidence, posted on X that CMS is “where the big money fraud is happening.” The White House did not confirm specific details but defended DOGE’s efforts to improve government accountability.
The WSJ reported that DOGE representatives accessed the CMS Acquisition Lifecycle Management system, which contains contract information. However, they did not receive access to databases containing identifiable health records.
DOGE’s access is “read-only,” preventing any system modifications. The U.S. Treasury also granted Musk’s team similar “read-only access” to its payment system codes but denied claims that this disrupted federal payments like Social Security or Medicare.
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