Overview
- Vice President JD Vance used a Wednesday news conference to promote the anti-fraud push as President Donald Trump arrived in China for talks with Xi Jinping.
- CMS announced a national six-month moratorium that blocks new home health and hospice agencies from enrolling in Medicare, which pays providers for patient care.
- The pause does not affect existing Medicare-approved agencies, and CMS Administrator Mehmet Oz offered no specific data to justify a nationwide step that is rare.
- Vance said the federal government will defer $1.3 billion in Medicaid reimbursements to California, arguing the state has not taken fraud seriously, a move that could strain payments to clinics and hospitals.
- Vance joked he felt like Macaulay Culkin in Home Alone under Secret Service rules that keep the president and vice president from traveling abroad together, and he is slated to speak in Bangor, Maine on Thursday as Secretary of State Marco Rubio travels with Trump.