WASHINGTON — A senior U.S. health official said Monday that Somalia’s ambassador to the United Nations has ties to a U.S.-based home health care company that has previously faced federal enforcement action for Medicaid fraud.

Deputy Health and Human Services Secretary Jim O’Neill said in a post on X that Abukar Dahir Osman, Somalia’s permanent representative to the United Nations and the current president of the U.N. Security Council, is associated with Progressive Health Care Services, a home health agency based in Cincinnati.

O’Neill said the Department of Health and Human Services has previously taken action against the company following a conviction tied to Medicaid fraud. He did not specify the nature of Osman’s association with the agency or the timeframe of the alleged misconduct, but said additional information would be released.

“More to come,” O’Neill wrote, adding that the department was responding to growing public speculation about the ambassador’s U.S. business connections.

I can confirm public speculation that Ambassador Abukar Dahir Osman, Permanent Representative of Somalia to the UN and President of the Security Council, is in fact associated with Progressive Health Care Services, a home health agency in Cincinnati.
HHS has previously taken… pic.twitter.com/zWIlC63Qer
— Deputy Secretary Jim O'Neill (@HHS_Jim) January 5, 2026

Progressive Health Care Services has operated in Ohio’s Medicaid-funded home health sector, an area that has faced heightened scrutiny from federal and state regulators over billing practices and patient eligibility. HHS routinely works with state authorities and federal prosecutors to investigate fraud involving public health programs.

Neither Permanent Mission of Somalia to the United Nations nor representatives for Progressive Health Care Services immediately responded to requests for comment. The United States Department of Health and Human Services also did not provide further details beyond O’Neill’s public statement.

Osman’s role as Somalia’s U.N. ambassador places him at the center of international diplomacy, and his current position as president of the Security Council carries a rotating but influential leadership role within the body.

It was not immediately clear whether the alleged association raises legal, ethical or diplomatic concerns under U.S. or international rules governing diplomats, or whether any new enforcement action is pending.

Jooish News

Jooish News