Robert F Kennedy Jr. announced the administration has paused over $1 billion in Medicaid funding for California and Minnesota due to suspected fraud.
Robert F Kennedy Jr., secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, announced that the administration has paused more than $1 billion in Medicaid funding for California and Minnesota. The move follows concerns regarding noncompliance and suspected fraud, with California seeing a pause of $867 million and Minnesota receiving a $200 million reduction. The administration utilized artificial intelligence and advanced analytics to identify suspicious activity, particularly in California's in-home services. Robert F Kennedy Jr. stated that states must provide documentation to prove payments are legitimate before the funds are released. Mehmet Oz, administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, noted that the government will no longer pay for claims that "smell like fraud." To address these issues, the health department is expanding its authority to remove "bad actors" from federal programs. While the administration seeks to eliminate waste, the state of Minnesota has already filed a lawsuit against the HHS regarding the withheld funds.