Which healthcare profession is excluded from Medicare and Medicaid most often?

Ind- Lic Hc Serv Pro is the most-excluded provider type in the HHS-OIG List of Excluded Individuals/Entities (LEIE), with 20,463 currently-active exclusions out of 20,463 historical records. The full ranking by profession is on this page.

How are healthcare providers classified by profession in the OIG LEIE?

The LEIE records a broad provider type (the "GENERAL" field) for each excluded individual — for example, nurse, physician, pharmacist, or health-services entity. Across the list, 83,256 records carry a provider type spanning 87 distinct profession categories. Entities and businesses are often recorded without a provider type.

What is an OIG exclusion?

An OIG exclusion is a sanction by the HHS Office of Inspector General that bars an individual or entity from participating in Medicare, Medicaid, and all other federal healthcare programs. Federal healthcare programs will not pay for items or services an excluded party furnishes, orders, or prescribes.

DATA STUDY · 2025 EDITION

Healthcare exclusions by profession

Which kinds of healthcare providers are barred from Medicare and Medicaid most often? Ind- Lic Hc Serv Pro top the list, with 20,463 active exclusions. Below: every provider type ranked by the number of currently-active exclusions in the HHS-OIG List of Excluded Individuals/Entities (LEIE), plus the specialties that appear most. Updated annually.

Ind- Lic Hc Serv Pro

MOST-EXCLUDED PROFESSION

20,463

ITS ACTIVE EXCLUSIONS

PROVIDER TYPES

83,256

CLASSIFIED PROVIDERS

OIG LEIE snapshot 2026-05-08

MOST-EXCLUDED PROVIDER TYPES

Active exclusions by profession — top 12

RANKED BY PROFESSION

Excluded providers by profession

Provider types ranked by the number of currently-active OIG LEIE exclusions. The provider type is the LEIE “general” field; entities and businesses are usually recorded without one.

#	Provider type	Active exclusions	Total LEIE records
1	Ind- Lic Hc Serv Pro	20,463	20,463
2	Nursing Profession	12,596	12,596
3	Employee - Private S	5,299	5,299
4	Individual (Unaffili	4,607	4,607
5	Medical Practice, MD	4,387	4,387
6	Bus Owner/Exec	4,301	4,301
7	Skilled Nursing Fac	4,219	4,219
8	Physician (MD, DO)	3,182	3,182
9	Hospital	2,395	2,395
10	Dme Company	2,274	2,274
11	Pharmacy	2,245	2,245
12	Private Cit/Entity	1,948	1,948
13	Chiropractic Pract	1,768	1,768
14	Home Health Agency	1,345	1,345
15	Clinic	1,287	1,287
16	Dental Practice	1,213	1,213
17	Nursing Firm	989	989
18	Transportation Co	794	794
19	Inter Care Facility	793	793
20	Therapist	621	621
21	Other Business	606	606
22	Counseling Center	561	561
23	Mental Health Fac	561	561
24	Psychologic Practice	511	511
25	Podiatry Practice	442	442
26	Adult Home	441	441
27	Ambulance Company	394	394
28	Osteopathic Prac	374	374
29	Laboratory	275	275
30	Physician Assistant	196	196
31	Rehab Facility - Gen	195	195
32	State/Local/Tribal A	195	195
33	Medical Group	173	173
34	Employee - St/Loc/Tr	145	145
35	Billing Service Co	125	125
36	Physical Therapist	106	106
37	Optometric Practice	102	102
38	Acupuncturist	93	93
39	Drug Company/Suplier	92	92
40	Radiology Facility	83	83
41	Physician Practice (	79	79
42	Optical Practice	70	70
43	Govt Emp(State/Loc)	54	54
44	Consulting Firm	51	51
45	Management Svcs Co	47	47
46	Comm Mntl Hlth Cntr	44	44
47	Recipt/Beneficiary	43	43
48	Health Maint Org	41	41
49	Employee-Government	36	36
50	Boarding Home	36	36
51	Employee - Federal -	34	34
52	Government Contracto	34	34
53	Doctor Owned Entity	32	32
54	Hospice	27	27
55	Audiologist	24	24
56	Owner/Exec-Govt Cont	20	20
57	Insurance Company	17	17
58	Carrier/Intermediary	16	16
59	Owner/Exec-Govt Gran	15	15
60	Law Practice	14	14
61	Renal Facility	13	13
62	Hhs Employee-Ihs	10	10
63	Government Grantee	10	10
64	Accounting Firm	9	9
65	Employee - Hhs	9	9
66	Rural Health Clinic	8	8
67	Subcontracting Co	7	7
68	Fiscal Agent	6	6
69	Manuf/Lessor Supp/Eq	6	6
70	Amblntry Srgcl Cntr	6	6
71	University/College	6	6
72	Interpreter/Trans	5	5
73	Govt Employee(Fed)	4	4
74	Tribal Organization	4	4
75	Elected Official	3	3
76	Printing Firm	3	3
77	Hhs Employee	3	3
78	Hc Conglom - Parent	3	3
79	Representative Payee	2	2
80	Renal Prov-Hospital	2	2
81	Regulated Indtry Rep	1	1
82	Therapudic Clinic	1	1
83	Hhs Employee-Phs	1	1
84	Researcher	1	1
85	Orthotist/Prosthetis	1	1
86	Hhs Employee-Aoa	1	1
87	Public Office	1	1

BY SPECIALTY

The specialties that appear most

The most common specialties recorded on excluded providers, drawn from the LEIE “specialty” field. Top 20 by active exclusion count.

Specialty	Active	Total
Nurse/Nurses Aide	34,538	34,538
Personal Care Provid	3,185	3,185
Owner/Operator	3,180	3,180
Health Care Aide	2,949	2,949
No Known Affiliation	2,143	2,143
Chiropractic	2,024	2,024
General Practice/Fp	1,864	1,864
Employee	1,805	1,805
Pharmacist	1,724	1,724
Home Health Agency	1,447	1,447
Dentist	1,346	1,346
General Practice	1,213	1,213
Technician	1,116	1,116
Dme - General	957	957
Counselor	887	887
Internal Medicine	859	859
Family Practice	844	844
Therapist	788	788
Pharmacy Technician	780	780
Clinic	714	714

Methodology

Counts are drawn from the HHS Office of Inspector General List of Excluded Individuals/Entities (LEIE), the authoritative federal record of providers barred from Medicare, Medicaid, and all federal healthcare programs. Each excluded individual carries a broad provider type — the LEIE “general” field — which we group on directly. A record is counted as an active exclusion when it has no reinstatement date; records with a reinstatement date are counted in the total but not in the active figure.

Larger professions naturally accumulate more exclusions in absolute terms; these figures are counts, not per-capita rates. Entities and businesses are often recorded without a provider type and are excluded from the profession ranking. Specialty figures use the separate LEIE “specialty” field. Figures are refreshed monthly from the OIG snapshot shown above.

Want to check a specific provider? You can screen any NPI or name against the LEIE, SAM.gov, state board sanctions, and more for a CLEAR / WATCH / EXCLUDED result. See also our state-by-state exclusion study.

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CITATION

ProviderScore. (2026). Healthcare Exclusions by Profession. Retrieved from https://providerscore.io/excluded-providers-by-profession

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<a href="https://providerscore.io/excluded-providers-by-profession" style="display:inline-block;border-left:4px solid #84cc16;padding:10px 14px;font:14px/1.4 system-ui,sans-serif;color:#0f172a;text-decoration:none;background:#f8fafc;border-radius:4px;max-width:520px"><strong>Ind- Lic Hc Serv Pro are the most-excluded healthcare profession (20,463 active OIG exclusions)</strong><br>Source: ProviderScore — Healthcare Exclusions by Profession (2026)</a>

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Ind- Lic Hc Serv Pro are the most-excluded healthcare profession (20,463 active OIG exclusions)
Source: ProviderScore — Healthcare Exclusions by Profession (2026)