Trump Administration Freezes Another $1.2 Billion in Medicaid Payments to California
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Mehmet Oz announced Tuesday that the federal government is deferring another $1.2 billion in Medicaid payments to California over the growth of its in-home care program, the administration's largest freeze of federal health funds to a state this year.
The Trump administration is freezing another $1.2 billion in federal Medicaid payments to California, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Mehmet Oz announced Tuesday, in what the Washington Sun described as the administration’s largest deferral of federal health funds to a state this year.
Oz made the announcement during an Oval Office event with President Donald Trump, saying the move was made on behalf of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Federal officials have already withheld about $2.2 billion from California this year, most of it tied to the state’s In-Home Supportive Services program, which pays family members and other caregivers to help patients with tasks like washing, dressing and feeding themselves, according to the Washington Sun.
Oz points to 24 percent growth in personal care approvals
The administration is targeting what it calls runaway growth in personal care services. Oz said California’s approval of Medicaid-covered personal care services has grown 24 percent in the last three years, “twice the rate of every other state average in the country,” adding: “Impossible for us to understand how that could be so.”
“I’ll make this announcement today on behalf of Secretary [Robert F.] Kennedy, Health and Human Services, that we are going to defer $1.2 billion more dollars from California,” Oz told reporters at the White House, according to the Washington Examiner. “They just got the note, and we’re doing that because the growth of personal care services in California, just that one little area where you’re paying someone to carry groceries upstairs for your mom, which many of you would carry groceries upstairs for your mom for free, I would think.”
California disputes the fraud claims
The administration alleges the program is riddled with fraud. California has pushed back, saying the federal government has not provided it with sufficient evidence of fraud and that the growth is a function of ballooning demand, the Washington Sun reported.
The deferred money is under review by CMS, which could decide to release it or cancel it entirely, and the state would be on the hook to make up any canceled payments. The total frozen this year comes to about 4 percent of California’s annual federal Medicaid payments.
Fraud fight moves to the front of the midterm message
The freeze landed as part of a wider administration push against fraud in federal programs ahead of the November midterm elections. Vice President JD Vance’s anti-fraud task force has touted actions in Medicaid, the individual health insurance marketplaces and the food stamp program. Oz announced the deferral at the same event where Trump unveiled a new Justice Department program paying rewards for fraud tips, according to the Washington Examiner.
Reporting based on coverage by the Washington Sun and the Washington Examiner.
