Vance announces Trump’s ‘war on fraud’ in Minnesota, pauses nearly $260 million Medicaid funding
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "Vance announces Trump’s ‘war on fraud’ in Minnesota, pauses nearly $260 million Medicaid funding")
US President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance Photograph: (AFP)
US Vice President JD Vance announced a temporary halt to $259 million in Medicaid funds to Minnesota over alleged fraud, as Governor Tim Walz accused the Trump administration of politicising the move.
US Vice President JD Vance on Wednesday (Feb 25) announced that the Trump administration would “temporarily halt” nearly $260 million in Medicaid funding to Minnesota. This comes after US President Donald Trump, during his State of the Union addressed declared a “war on fraud”, singling out Democratic-led states, including California, Maine and Massachusetts, and accusing Minnesota and its Somali community of $19 billion in fraud, without providing any evidence for his claims.
“We have decided to temporarily halt certain amounts of Medicaid funding that are going to the state of Minnesota in order to ensure that the state of Minnesota takes its obligation seriously to be good stewards of the American people’s tax money,” Vance said at a press conference in Washington.
“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,” he added.
Trump administration warns other states
Administrator of the Centres for Medicare & Medicaid Mehmet Oz, who accompanied Vance, said that the Trump administration has notified Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz of the funding pause for the state, which received a $259 million Medicaid reimbursement this month.
“We will give them the money, but we’re going to hold it and only release it after they propose an act on a comprehensive corrective action plan to solve the problem,” Oz said. “If Minnesota fails to clean up the systems, the state will rack up a billion dollars of deferred payments this year.”
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This comes after the Trump administration sent thousands of federal agents to Minneapolis, which led to widespread protests and the death of two US citizens. The government later announced that it was withdrawing federal officials after massive outrage following the killings.
“It’s unponderable that you would take advantage of these precious programs,” Oz said as he warned that other states would be next after Minnesota.
Medicaid is a joint federal and state program that provides free or low-cost health insurance to over 70 million people, including children, the elderly, pregnant women and people with disabilities in the United States.
Tim Walz slam Trump administration
The Trump administration’s move was slammed by Walz, who said that the funding pause “has nothing to do with fraud.” He added, “The agents Trump allegedly sent to investigate fraud are shooting protesters and arresting children. His DOJ is gutting the U.S. Attorney’s Office and crippling their ability to prosecute fraud. And every week Trump pardons another fraudster.”
