Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announces the administration is withholding over $1 billion in Medicaid payments from California and Minnesota due to suspected fraud.
The administration announced it is pausing more than $1 billion in federal Medicaid payments to California and Minnesota to address suspected fraud and noncompliance. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. stated that the states must provide documentation to prove the payments are legitimate before the funds are released. The administration utilized artificial intelligence and advanced analytics to identify high-risk claims. In California, spending on in-home services rose 24% over the last two years, double the national average. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services administrator Mehmet Oz noted that many of these claims were billed late or for patients who were not present. Governor Gavin Newsom criticized the move as "pure politics," arguing that the administration lacks concrete proof of the fraud. However, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. defended the decision, noting that the previous administration failed to prevent waste. The administration plans to expand its exclusion authority to permanently ban "bad actors" from receiving federal healthcare funding.