HHS Pauses $ 1 Billion In Payments to California & Minnesota

Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. announced today that $ 1 billion in Medicaid payments to the states of California and Minnesota would be paused due to fraud and noncompliance:

https://www.reuters.com/world/us-health-secretary-kennedy-says-cms-is-pausing-medicaid-payments-california-2026-07-21/

Trump administration pauses $1 billion in Medicaid payments to California, Minnesota
By Ahmed Aboulenein - July 21, 2026

WASHINGTON, July 21 (Reuters) - The Trump administration is ​pausing over $1 billion in Medicaid payments to California ‌and Minnesota "because of suspected fraud and noncompliance," U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. said on Tuesday.

"If those ​states want that money they need to provide ​documentations that these payments are legitimate," Kennedy ⁠said at a news conference alongside CMS Administrator Dr. ​Mehmet Oz.

The pause is the latest in a ​series of payment suspensions mostly at Democratic-run states as Vice President JD Vance, Kennedy, and Oz spearhead a campaign ​the White House has called an "unrelenting" war on ​fraud.

Kennedy said the administration suspects that much of the questionable spending ‌in ⁠California involves in-home services, and 14 high risk areas that Minnesota's own legislative auditor identified as vulnerable to fraud.

Oz and Kennedy did not provide ​evidence of ​the alleged ⁠fraud.

Kennedy said he was also expanding exclusion authority both to the Centers ​for Medicare and Medicaid Services and ​the health ⁠department's Office of the Inspector General, allowing them to remove "bad actors" from federal healthcare programs and potentially ⁠ban ​them permanently from returning.