Trump Administration Pauses $1 Billion in Medicaid Payments to California and Minnesota

The administration is deferring a second hefty round of payments to states it says didn’t take fraud seriously enough.

Administrator for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Dr. Mehmet Oz speaks beside Vice President JD Vance

CMS Administrator Mehmet Oz has posted videos of himself accompanying law enforcement officers confronting providers suspected of fraud. Tom Brenner/AP

The Trump administration is pausing more than $1 billion in Medicaid payments to California and Minnesota in its effort against fraud in government health insurance programs, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced Tuesday.

The administration will withhold more than $867 million in payments from California and more than $200 million for Minnesota, officials said. It’s the second time the administration is pausing large payments for the program for low-income Americans, which is run by states but partly funded by the federal government.

“If those states want that money, they need to provide documentation that these payments are legitimate,” Kennedy said at a press conference Tuesday.