Vice President JD Vance and Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Administrator Mehmet Oz said on Wednesday that the Trump administration will temporarily halt certain Medicaid payments to Minnesota, framing the move as a fraud crackdown and warning the state must tighten oversight before Washington releases the money.
Vance Announces Temporary Medicaid Funding Halt
Vance, standing alongside Oz, said, “We have decided to temporarily halt certain amounts of Medicaid funding that are going to the state of Minnesota in order to ensure that the state of Minnesota takes its obligation seriously to be good stewards of the American people’s tax money.”
As noted in a report by the Associated Press, the administration said it will not reimburse Minnesota for $259.5 million as it investigates alleged fraud risks. CMS said the paused amount includes about $244 million in “unsupported or potentially fraudulent” claims and about $15 million tied to claims involving “individuals lacking a satisfactory immigration status.”
Officials have flagged 14 high-risk programs, including autism-related services and non-emergency transportation, as part of the broader review.
Oz Blames State Leaders, Not Residents
Oz sought to distinguish between residents and state leadership. “This is not a problem with the people of Minnesota. It’s a problem with the leadership of Minnesota and other states who do not take Medicaid preservation seriously,” he said. “Any delay in services is going to be, should be laid at the seat of Governor Walz. I believe he will take this seriously,” Oz added. Oz said the administration is “confident” Minnesotans will not be hurt, pointing to the state’s rainy-day reserves.
Minnesota’s Department of Human Services said federal officials notified the agency Feb. 25 that they were deferring $259 million, and said the action comes “on top of federal action to withhold more than $2 billion in annual Medicaid funding” as the state appeals and presses CMS to reverse course.
Gov. Tim Walz (D) took to social media to state thatthe administration’s Medicaid funding move has “nothing to do with fraud,” calling it “a campaign of retribution” in which Trump is “weaponizing the entirety of the federal government to punish blue states like Minnesota.”
Walz warned the cuts would hit veterans, families with young children, people with disabilities and working Minnesotans, and he paired his criticism with a new legislative package he said would strengthen anti-fraud efforts in public programs.
White House Links Move To ‘War On Fraud’
The move fits a broader White House campaign, President Donald Trump labeled a national “war on fraud.” Earlier this year, the administration froze some child care funding tied to Minnesota fraud cases and sent about 2,000 federal officers to the Minneapolis area in an immigration surge also linked in part to fraud allegations.
Image via Shutterstock/ Drozd Irina
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