Overview
- Vice President JD Vance, alongside CMS Administrator Mehmet Oz, announced a temporary halt to more than $259 million in Medicaid reimbursements to Minnesota and warned that nearly $1 billion could be deferred if the state’s fixes are not accepted.
- The freeze follows federal audit findings that officials said identified late-2025 vulnerabilities in billing, and Minnesota was formally directed to deliver a comprehensive corrective action plan within 60 days.
- The Justice Department previously alleged large-scale fraud in Minnesota programs since 2018, while Trump and Vance linked some schemes to Somali community members, prompting Rep. Ilhan Omar to rebut the claim as false.
- Gov. Tim Walz denounced the move as political retribution, and state officials cautioned the funding action could jeopardize care for roughly 1.3 million Minnesotans enrolled in Medicaid.
- A coalition of conservative state financial officers released a report claiming $28 billion safeguarded in 2025 and offered support to the White House effort, as analysts framed Vance’s new role as both an opportunity and a political risk.