WASHINGTON — The Deputy U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services, Jim O’Neill, said on Monday that Abukar Dahir Osman, Somalia’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations and current president of the Security Council, is associated with a U.S.-based home healthcare company that previously faced government action following a Medicaid fraud conviction.
In a post on X, O’Neill said he could “confirm public speculation” that Osman is associated with Progressive Health Care Services, a home health agency based in Cincinnati, Ohio.
“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,” O’Neill wrote.
O’Neill added that the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) had “previously taken action against Progressive in response to a conviction for Medicaid fraud,” and said further details would follow. HHS did not immediately provide additional information on the timing or scope of the enforcement action, and it was not immediately clear whether Osman was personally implicated in the conviction referenced.
The development follows earlier reporting by HornDiplomat, which first published documents and professional records raising questions about overlapping diplomatic and U.S. healthcare business ties involving Osman, ahead of Somalia’s assumption of the rotating presidency of the United Nations Security Council on January 1, 2026.
There was no immediate response from Osman or Somalia’s mission to the United Nations to requests for comment.
Progressive Health Care Services operates within Medicaid-funded systems overseen by federal and state authorities. U.S. regulators have repeatedly identified the home healthcare sector as vulnerable to fraud and improper billing, prompting enforcement actions nationwide.
The United Nations maintains ethics and disclosure rules for senior officials, though oversight of permanent representatives largely depends on disclosures made by member states. Somalia’s presidency of the Security Council involves chairing meetings and representing the council in its dealings with the wider UN membership.
O’Neill said additional information would be released. “More to come,” he wrote.
