Trump Administration Freezes Over $1 Billion in Medicaid Funds

The Trump administration is halting more than $1 billion in federal Medicaid payments to California and Minnesota. According to federal health officials, the payments will be deferred until the states take more steps to investigate questionable claims. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services said it's deferring about $867.5 million in Medicaid payments to California and $199 million to Minnesota after financial reviews turned up unsupported claims for in-home care and other services.

The Department of Health and Human Services said it also will expand its authority to remove bad actors from federal health programs and possibly bar them from returning. CMS reviewed California's claims for certain in-home care programs after identifying spending growth that exceeded national trends and other claims officials said require more documentation. The agency also cited Medicaid claims in 14 service areas in Minnesota that it said require additional documentation, including expenditures linked to providers who had been flagged through program integrity reviews.

CMS Administrator Mehmet Oz said the moves would safeguard federal taxpayer dollars. However, Minnesota state officials told Axios the administration has been cooperating with a federal inquiry and called the move unexplained, 'unprecedented and punitive.'