A federal report released in March 2026 shows that state Medicaid Fraud Control Units won 329 convictions for patient abuse or neglect in federal fiscal year 2025. Nurse’s aides were the largest group of providers convicted in those cases, followed by nurses. The numbers come from the annual report of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS OIG), which oversees the units.
What the report found
There are 53 Medicaid Fraud Control Units, one in each state, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Most are part of a state attorney general’s office. Their name suggests they only chase billing fraud, but they also investigate and prosecute abuse and neglect of patients.
According to the OIG report, the units recorded 1,185 convictions in fiscal year 2025. Of those, 856 were for fraud and 329 were for patient abuse or neglect. The report says examples of patient abuse and neglect include sexual and physical abuse. It does not break out how many of the 329 convictions involved sexual abuse, so that number is not known from this report.
The report lists the provider types most often convicted in abuse and neglect cases:
- Nurse’s aides: 71 convictions
- Nurses: 60
- Personal care service attendants: 40
- Family members or guardians: 28
- Unlicensed mental health counselors: 19
The units also reported about $17 million in criminal recoveries from abuse and neglect cases. That figure reflects court-ordered amounts across all cases. It says nothing about what any single case, civil or criminal, might be worth.
Why nurse’s aides top the list
The report does not explain why aides appear most often. It is worth keeping in mind that aides provide much of the hands-on care in nursing homes, such as bathing, dressing and toileting. That close, private contact is also where many abuse allegations arise.
Federal nursing home rules try to address this risk. Under 42 CFR 483.12, a nursing home that takes part in Medicare or Medicaid may not employ someone who was found guilty of abuse by a court or who has an abuse finding on a state nurse aide registry. The same rule requires facilities to report abuse allegations to state officials within 2 hours and to protect residents while they investigate.
What happens after a conviction
A conviction can have effects beyond a prison sentence. The OIG report says the units refer convictions to OIG, which can bar a person from working for any provider paid by federal health programs. In fiscal year 2025, 900 of the 2,837 exclusions OIG issued came from unit convictions. The units also report certain actions to the National Practitioner Data Bank, which employers and licensing boards can check.
These steps matter to families because they are part of how a person with an abuse record is kept out of future care jobs. They only work, though, when abuse is reported and prosecuted in the first place.
Limits of the numbers
Conviction counts show only cases that reached the end of a criminal process. Many reports of abuse never lead to charges. Some cases are handled by local police and prosecutors rather than a fraud unit, and would not be counted here. The 329 figure also covers more than nursing homes. It includes abuse and neglect in other settings, including care provided in people’s homes.
A criminal conviction and a civil claim are separate. A conviction can be strong evidence in a civil case, but a civil claim can also go forward when no one was charged. You can read more about how these claims work on our nursing home sexual abuse page.
What this means for survivors and families
If you believe someone you love was sexually abused in a nursing home or assisted living facility, you can report it to local police, to the state agency that inspects nursing homes, to Adult Protective Services or to your state’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit. Deadlines to bring a civil claim vary by state, and a lawyer can review the specifics of your situation. Our sexual assault and abuse section explains the settings we review.
This article is general information about how these cases work. It is not legal advice, it does not create an attorney-client relationship, and no two claims are alike. If something here sounds like your situation, the useful next step is a conversation about the facts.
