[The Trump administration’s freeze on federal grants sparked chaos and confusion at state Medicaid agencies on Tuesday. Despite the White House insisting that Medicaid was not affected, state Medicaid officials found themselves locked out of the federal funding portal for hours. The administration sent conflicting messages about Medicaid, with the Office of Management and Budget initially omitting it from the list of programs affected, but later clarifying that mandatory programs like Medicaid would continue without pause.
During a White House press briefing, press secretary Karoline Leavitt could not immediately answer a question on whether Medicaid funding was included in the freeze, saying she would have to check and get back to the press. Leavitt later posted on social media that the White House knew the Medicaid portal was down and would be back online shortly. She also stated that no payments had been affected and were still being processed and sent.
Meanwhile, a federal judge temporarily blocked part of the Trump administration’s plans to freeze federal aid on Tuesday afternoon. State Medicaid agencies lost access to the Department of Health and Human Services’ Payment Management Services (PMS) system, with a notice posted on the site stating that reviews of applicable programs and payments would result in delays and/or rejections of payments.
Medicaid policy experts reported hearing of additional states being able to sign in to the system, but some states were still experiencing issues. Connecticut’s Department of Social Services confirmed that state Medicaid officials could not log in to the system on Tuesday morning, but access was restored in the afternoon. The freeze on federal grants has sparked concerns about the potential impact on the millions of Americans who rely on Medicaid for health insurance.
Source link