Vice President Vance announces hold on Medicaid funding for Minnesota due to fraud concerns

The Trump administration is temporarily deferring nearly $260 million in medicaid funding to Minnesota over fraud concerns.

The Trump administration is temporarily deferring nearly $260 million in Medicaid funding to Minnesota over fraud concerns.

The announcement is part of what the administration calls a "major crackdown on healthcare fraud" after President Trump declared a “war on fraud” in his State of the Union address on Tuesday.

“We are going to start very aggressively in the administration, cracking down on the people and the organizations that are defrauding Americans,” Vice President JD Vance said, after Trump announced Vance would lead the effort.

CMS will defer $259.5 million in federal funds, and warns it could defer more than $1 billion if Minnesota does not “clean up its significant program integrity vulnerabilities or demonstrate that the expenditures are allowable.”

“These are services the governor has already paid for. We are just not reimbursing the state. To make it clear, there is a rainy day fund in Minnesota, so we are very confident that people will not be hurt in Minnesota. This is not a problem with the people of Minnesota. It's a problem with the leadership of Minnesota,” CMS administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz said, contending that any service delays should be “laid at the seat of Governor Walz.”