Overview
- U.S. District Judge Eric Tostrud denied Minnesota’s bid for a quick injunction Monday, keeping a federal pause on roughly $243–$259 million in Medicaid payments in place.
- He wrote that courts usually wait for a final agency decision, noting the CMS review has just begun and that the state can unlock money by submitting records that prove the flagged claims are valid.
- Tostrud said Minnesota has acknowledged a serious fraud problem, even as he called the deferral unusually large and fast but likely consistent with federal rules.
- Attorney General Keith Ellison sued CMS and HHS and argued the freeze is political, yet the judge said the current record does not support that claim and the lawsuit will continue.
- CMS’s administrative review continues, and one outlet reports the agency approved the state’s corrective plan last month, leaving budgets and some services in limbo while the funds remain paused rather than permanently cut.