Vice President JD Vance said on Wednesday that the Trump administration is pausing some Medicaid funding to Minnesota over concerns of fraud in the state.
Vance said the move is to ensure Minnesota “takes its obligations seriously to be good stewards of the American people’s tax money.”
“What we’re doing is we are stopping the federal payments that will go to the state government until the state government takes its obligations seriously to stop the fraud that’s being perpetrated against the American taxpayer,” the vice president said.
The announcement follows President Donald Trump declaring a “war on fraud” at his State of the Union address on Tuesday.
Earlier on Wednesday, Vance said that he plans to work with the Department of Justice and Treasury on efforts to root out fraud. Colin McDonald will serve as the inaugural head of the DOJ’s newly created fraud enforcement division. Vance first announced the new post in early January.
Vance said he feels “quite confident” in the federal government’s legal authority to freeze such funding. He explained that while Congress appropriates Medicaid spending, “we’re the ones who actually make sure it goes to the people it ought to go to.”
Providers in Minnesota have already been paid by the state, and the funding freeze will halt funds that are meant to reimburse the state for said payments, Vance said.
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz said the action reflects the agency’s honesty and patient-focused nature. He said Minnesota has been notified about the action and will receive the medicaid funding, but only after it proposes a corrective action plan to eliminate any fraud.
VANCE WORKING WITH DOJ AND TREASURY AFTER TRUMP ANNOUNCES ‘WAR ON FRAUD’
“If Minnesota fails to clean up the systems, the state will rack up $1 billion of deferred payments this year,” Oz said, adding that Gov. Tim Walz (D-MN) has been given 60 days to respond. “There is a rainy day fund in Minnesota, so we are very confident that people will not be hurt.”
Vance also dismissed claims that halting funding would hurt children in that state and said, “No. It’s hurting fraudsters. The way to protect kids is to go after those fraudsters, which is what we’re doing.”
