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 20,749 currently-active exclusions out of 20,749 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, 83,842 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 20,749 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

20,749

ITS ACTIVE EXCLUSIONS

PROVIDER TYPES

83,842

CLASSIFIED PROVIDERS

OIG LEIE snapshot 2026-09-07

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	20,749	20,749
2	Nursing Profession	12,583	12,583
3	Employee - Private S	5,392	5,392
4	Individual (Unaffili	4,656	4,656
5	Medical Practice, MD	4,385	4,385
6	Bus Owner/Exec	4,380	4,380
7	Skilled Nursing Fac	4,215	4,215
8	Physician (MD, DO)	3,253	3,253
9	Hospital	2,395	2,395
10	Dme Company	2,299	2,299
11	Pharmacy	2,245	2,245
12	Private Cit/Entity	1,945	1,945
13	Chiropractic Pract	1,766	1,766
14	Home Health Agency	1,342	1,342
15	Clinic	1,284	1,284
16	Dental Practice	1,212	1,212
17	Nursing Firm	988	988
18	Transportation Co	793	793
19	Inter Care Facility	792	792
20	Other Business	626	626
21	Therapist	619	619
22	Mental Health Fac	560	560
23	Counseling Center	559	559
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	State/Local/Tribal A	196	196
31	Physician Assistant	196	196
32	Rehab Facility - Gen	195	195
33	Medical Group	173	173
34	Employee - St/Loc/Tr	147	147
35	Billing Service Co	125	125
36	Physical Therapist	105	105
37	Optometric Practice	102	102
38	Acupuncturist	93	93
39	Drug Company/Suplier	92	92
40	Radiology Facility	83	83
41	Physician Practice (	80	80
42	Optical Practice	70	70
43	Govt Emp(State/Loc)	54	54
44	Consulting Firm	51	51
45	Management Svcs Co	47	47
46	Recipt/Beneficiary	43	43
47	Comm Mntl Hlth Cntr	43	43
48	Health Maint Org	41	41
49	Employee-Government	36	36
50	Boarding Home	36	36
51	Government Contracto	34	34
52	Employee - Federal -	33	33
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	Employee - Hhs	10	10
65	Accounting Firm	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	34,702	34,702
Personal Care Provid	3,238	3,238
Owner/Operator	3,179	3,179
Health Care Aide	2,943	2,943
No Known Affiliation	2,154	2,154
Chiropractic	2,023	2,023
General Practice/Fp	1,863	1,863
Employee	1,802	1,802
Pharmacist	1,729	1,729
Home Health Agency	1,472	1,472
Dentist	1,349	1,349
General Practice	1,222	1,222
Technician	1,118	1,118
Dme - General	992	992
Counselor	909	909
Internal Medicine	867	867
Family Practice	858	858
Therapist	803	803
Pharmacy Technician	793	793
Clinic	736	736

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 (20,749 active OIG exclusions)</strong><br>Source: ProviderScore — Healthcare Exclusions by Profession (2026)</a>

PREVIEW

Ind- Lic Hc Serv Pro are the most-excluded healthcare profession (20,749 active OIG exclusions)
Source: ProviderScore — Healthcare Exclusions by Profession (2026)