Dr. Oz is highlighting the federal conviction of Sharmaine Meadows as an example of how fraud can overwhelm government programs designed to help vulnerable people, pointing to the collapse of Minnesota’s Medicaid Housing Stabilization Services Program after costs surged dramatically.

Oz said Meadows was convicted by a federal jury earlier this month for stealing more than $3.5 million from the now-defunct program.

"This is Sharmaine Meadows. We want to put a name and a face to some of the things we're talking about. Earlier this month, Sharmaine was not just indicted; she was convicted by a federal jury for stealing over three and a half million dollars from the now-defunct Minnesota Medicaid Housing Stabilization Services Program."

Oz said the program had been created to assist homeless people, disabled seniors, and others dealing with serious conditions by helping them obtain stable housing and avoid institutional care.

Gun Laws Have Changed! Protect yourself by knowing where you can and cannot carry your firearm, so you can travel with confidence.

"This program, the Medicaid Housing Program, was designed to keep homeless and disabled seniors who were suffering serious conditions. The exact kind of people you want to put your hand out and help back up again."

He said the program was also intended to save taxpayer money by helping beneficiaries remain in stable housing rather than entering institutions.

"It was designed to help keep them out of institutions, which also saves taxpayer dollars, and by helping them get comfortable and stable housing, it was supposed to achieve that."

According to Oz, fraud eventually overwhelmed the program.

"The program was so overrun with corruption that it ballooned from being about a two and a half million dollar program when it was first established in 2020, just five six years ago, to over $100 million in 2024."

Oz emphasized the scale of that increase.

"That is a 40-fold increase in four years. That's impossible to stand. If you're even paying a slight bit of attention to what you're doing, you would never let that happen."

He said Minnesota ultimately shut the Housing Stabilization Services Program down because of fraud.

"Minnesota shut the program down. I'm going to say that again. This housing stabilization program, which everyone on this stage thinks has merit, was shut down because of fraudsters like Sharmaine Meadows."

Oz said Meadows used billing practices that should have raised immediate concerns, including claiming more hours of service than could physically be performed and employing untrained workers overseas.

"Now she billed more hours than possible. She hired untrained individuals overseas. She did unspeakable things that broke the very integrity of this valuable program, leading to it being completely removed."

The result, Oz said, was that legitimate beneficiaries lost access to services.

"It was no longer offering those services to worthy folks living in Minnesota who could benefit from them."

Oz also drew attention to Meadows’ website, particularly its wording.

"I couldn't Photoshop this. It's exactly what you see: a proven, personalized, profitable. That last word, of course, being the operative one."

He said Meadows billed the program for housing-related services that were never actually provided to Medicaid beneficiaries.

"She built a program for housing services that were never provided to vulnerable Medicaid beneficiaries who could have desperately used them."

Oz said the billing records included claims for services across multiple states and countries at the same time, which he described as physically impossible.

"She built for services across multiple states and countries at a time at the same time, that is physically impossible to provide services all at once."

He also pointed to employees allegedly billing more than 20 hours of work per day.

"Her employees were doing more than 20 hours per day of work. Again, she claims it was not really happening."

Oz said another warning sign involved services allegedly being provided to people who were hospitalized.

"That unfortunately led to people even in the hospital being offered services, which again not legal and physically impossible, a telltale sign of fraud."

He argued that cases like Meadows’ demonstrate why aggressive enforcement is necessary when taxpayer-funded programs are abused.

"That's how we shut down people like Sharmaine and her colleagues like hers. We go after them."

Oz credited federal and state law enforcement officials with pursuing the case.

"Folks like Kash Patel, Treasury Secretary Bessent, and the law enforcement teams here in Minnesota and elsewhere went after her, and she's going to jail."

In Minnesota, @DrOzCMS details the lengths to which fraudsters have gone while Democrats like @GovTimWalz and @LtGovFlanagan let them get away with it:

"She did unspeakable things that broke the very integrity of this valuable program, leading to it being completely removed no longer offering those services to worthy folks living in Minnesota who could benefit from it." — Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) October 30, 2026

Oz framed the Meadows conviction as a warning about the broader cost of fraud. The losses were not limited to taxpayer dollars, he said, because the corruption ultimately helped destroy a program that had been created to serve homeless people, disabled seniors, and other Medicaid beneficiaries who needed housing assistance.

The opinions expressed by contributors and/or content partners are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of LifeZette. Contact us for guidelines on submitting your own commentary.