Medicaid halts some funding to Minnesota due to fraud concerns

CMS Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz said his agency paused the payment of $259 million of deferred Medicaid payments to Minnesota following an audit.

Vice President JD Vance said the federal government halted millions in Medicaid funding to Minnesota amid concerns over potential fraud involving federal funds intended for personal care and home- and community-based services in the state.

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz said the federal government had deferred $259 million in Medicaid payments to Minnesota following an audit.

"We are going to start very aggressively cracking down on the people and the organizations that are defrauding the American people," Vance said in a joint press conference with Oz.

Oz said CMS notified Minnesota that the federal government will release funds only after the state proposes and acts on a "comprehensive corrective action plan to solve the problem."

A spokesperson for Minnesota Governor Tim Walz did not immediately respond to a request for comment.