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\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\nThe Trump administration on Tuesday paused more than $1 billion in Medicaid payments to California and Minnesota, which Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said would not be reversed until the Democratic-led states \u201cdemonstrate that every dollar meets federal requirements.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIf those states want that money, \u200bthey need to provide documentations that these \u2060payments are legitimate,\u201d Kennedy said at a news \u200bconference announcing the HHS action, which he said was a means of preventing the waste of taxpayer dollars.<\/p>\n
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services will defer approximately $867.5 million in federal Medicaid payments to California and $199 million to Minnesota, according to a news release announcing the moratorium, which billed the pause as an effort to advance \u201cthe Trump administration\u2019s effort to combat fraud, waste, and abuse in Medicaid and safeguard federal taxpayer dollars.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kennedy named Democratic Govs. Gavin Newsom of California and Tim Walz of Minnesota during the news conference, who have both been consistent targets of the Trump administration, saying that \u201call they have to do is provide basic documentation showing that these services are legitimate and not fraudulent, and that\u2019s common sense.\u201d<\/p>\n
CMS Administrator Mehmet Oz, who was also present at Tuesday\u2019s news conference, said that the two states have not documented Medicaid claims \u201cfully and acceptably to the federal government,\u201d adding that a federal review of the states\u2019 low-cost health insurance payouts in recent years turned up \u201cclaims that smell like fraud,\u201d although he did not provide specific evidence of alleged fraud.<\/p>\n
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