Trump Team Pauses $1 Billion in Medicaid Funds to

On Tuesday, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy and Dr. Mehmet Oz, Administrator for Medicaid and Medicare Services, announced they are going to be pausing more than one billion {dollars} in Medicaid funds to Minnesota and California because of these states’ failure to comply with the Trump administration’s efforts to fight fraud and abuse of the Medicaid system. 

Kennedy announced:

CMS is pausing more than a billion {dollars} in federal Medicaid funds to California and to Minnesota because of suspected fraud and non-compliance. That contains more than 867 million {dollars} for California and over 200 million {dollars} for Minnesota. If those states need that money, they’ve to present documentation that these funds are official.

That’s a lot of money that has flowed from the taxpayer without any accountability or oversight, but according to Dr. Oz, it is a conservative quantity.

“This is a very conservative approach, by the way, ” Oz said. “We could have taken a lot more money. But this we believe is a very thoughtful and  judicious way of moving forward.”

WATCH:

.@SecKennedy proclaims the Trump Administration is pausing more than $1 billion in Medicaid funds to California and Minnesota due to suspected fraud and noncompliance.

“If those states want that money, they need to provide documentation that these payments are legitimate.” pic.twitter.com/6VjDVZ0Ovu

— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) July 21, 2026

Dr. Oz broke down this one billion quantity to brass tacks. First, they remoted “high-risk programs:” ones that billed 4 or more sufferers at the same time or who billed more than a yr after the companies have been offered. Using AI-based auditing procedures, CMS remoted suppliers who had documentation gaps: for instance, companies offered to lifeless people. 

In Minnesota, we’re speaking about 14 high-risk packages, high-risk service classes like personal care and home-based companies. Again, often these are companies that your loved ones would sometimes have offered for you, that the federal authorities has began to fund, but sadly may be abused. 

Roughly 413 million {dollars} in claims have been under review this quarter, that was the entire in Minnesota. Of that three million {dollars}, a little over that is tied to particular documentation gaps. As an instance of a documentation hole, is charging us for care you offered to a deceased particular person. We’re not going to pay for healthcare for lifeless people. And over three million {dollars} in Minnesota, you may see California in a second, and billing for Medicare or fairly, Medicaid beneficiaries or suppliers who are deceased is a pink flag for us that you aren’t doing all of your homework nicely. Another portion of over 42 million {dollars} comes from claims tied to practically 870 suppliers that we flagged through fraud safety analytics. We establish people who have been of a character that traditionally defrauded the federal government. We do not trust them, and when we see payments from them, we scrutinize them more aggressively. 

Read More: Has Graham Platner’s Quiet Departure Been the Result of a Medicaid Fraud Case Involving His Wife?

Trump Cracks Down on Student Loan Forgiveness for Groups Like SPLC, CHIRLA After Biden’s Default Disaster

With this strategy, CMS was in a position to not just defer current disbursements, but to claw back disbursements from prior quarters that confirmed the same points. 

However, the most important half of today’s deferral comes from one thing that’s new this quarter, and that’s one thing price paying consideration to. Minnesota — all 50 states — but Minnesota in explicit, was requested to audit all the people offering companies in these high risk areas. And Minnesota itself disenrolled roughly 3,000 suppliers. Three-thousand suppliers who traditionally may ship payments willy-nilly, and be nice, they themselves have disenrolled them for failed background checks, failed psych visits and other points. This raises questions about the claims tied to these same suppliers in the quarter before they have been eliminated. Again, Minnesota eliminated the suppliers, we regarded back to see how a lot they billed us last quarter, and sadly, it was a lot. 

Oz affirmed that this was the bulk of the roughly $200 million that was put on pause for Minnesota.

As anticipated, California had the lion’s share of fraud from these home assist packages. 

Oz continued:

Now let’s go to California. This is the main focus in California. It’s called In Home Supportive Services, IHSS, again, going to somebody’s home, offering the care that sometimes their households would have supplied. This offers care for seniors and for people with disabilities so they will stay safely in their own houses. Done accurately, these packages make sense. Over the past two federal fiscal years, California’s spending in this program — this is a important statistic — evaluating state-to-state, California’s spending in these in-home packages went up 24 p.c. The relaxation of the nation’s average is about 12 p.c.

So, California elevated spending at twice the speed of the average of the remainder of all the nation. That would not make sense. That hole accounts for 391 million {dollars} of today’s deferral. Another 250 million, quarter of a billion {dollars}, comes from claims tied to high-risk suppliers as I explained earlier: Those who are billing more than a yr after the service is offered, those billing for 4 or more sufferers all at the same time, arduous to juggle that many sufferers. If they ranked in the top two and a half p.c of all billers, we have been frightened about them.

WATCH:

.@DrOzCMS: “Over the past 2 Fiscal Years…California’s spending in these in-home programs went up 24%. The rest of the country’s average is about 12%. So California increased spending at twice the rate of the average of the rest of the entire nation. That doesn’t make sense.” https://t.co/PG2aDYzS5Q pic.twitter.com/mtiBvjqvlk

— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) July 21, 2026

Of course, this transfer by HHS and CMS didn’t sit nicely with the very people who have been tasked with oversight of these packages, and ignored the fraud in the first place. 

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz determined to ramble that this was just Trump’s manner of cutting off healthcare for the parents, while funding tax cuts to his billionaire pals… or one thing.

This isn’t about fraud – it’s about cutting your healthcare so that Trump can afford the tax cuts he gave to billionaires.

They’re cutting more money in healthcare than they’ve prosecuted for fraud. The math doesn’t add up.https://t.co/2jl43FNdNU

— Governor Tim Walz (@GovTimWalz) July 21, 2026

And the theater children who run California Governor Gavin Newsom’s official account are having a regular one.

Today’s announcement from Dr. Oz is the same recycled political stunt we’ve seen before.

California isn’t being focused because Trump has evidence of fraud. We are being focused for political causes — and because Dr. Oz doesn’t perceive that we’re *SAVING* taxpayers money… https://t.co/rYyTUSbLqC

— Governor Newsom Press Office (@GovPressOffice) July 21, 2026

Today’s announcement from Dr. Oz is the same recycled political stunt we’ve seen before.

California isn’t being focused because Trump has evidence of fraud. We are being focused for political causes — and because Dr. Oz doesn’t perceive that we’re *SAVING* taxpayers money by protecting seniors and people with disabilities out of far more costly nursing houses!

We hate fraud. That’s not what this is. And we stand prepared to collaborate with CMS in good religion efforts to fight fraud.

The pedophile enabler and the one under DOJ investigation need to hold forth about issues not including up. That’s wealthy. 

Editor’s Note: Do you get pleasure from RedState’s conservative reporting that takes on the unconventional left and woke media? Support our work so that we will continue to deliver you the reality.

Join RedState VIP and use promo code FIGHT to obtain 60% off your membership.