ST. PAUL, Minn. (FOX 9) - The State of Minnesota is appealing the Trump Administration's decision to withhold $2 billion in Medicaid funding, accusing Medicaid administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz of "weaponizing" the Medicaid program.
Federal funding freeze
What we know:
Last week, Dr. Oz announced the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services would audit the state's quarterly spending reports and "defer paying on claims based on fraud, waste, and abuse."
According to CMS, the 14 programs under review account for approximately $3.75 billion annually in federal and state funding. Walz had already issued a third-party audit of Medicaid billing through the Minnesota Department of Human Services, and paused payments in October.
Tuesday, the Minnesota Department of Human Services said federal officials had decided to withhold $2 billion in Medicaid funding, and that the state was now appealing the decision.
What they're saying:
In response to the decision, Minnesota officials wrote a letter addressed to Dr. Oz. In the letter, state officials accuse the Trump admin of playing politics.
"Instead of being a reliable partner to Minnesota in the joint Medicaid enterprise, it is regrettable that the federal administration has chosen to weaponize the Medicaid program against the State of Minnesota for political purposes," the letter states.
Fraud in Minnesota
The backstory:
Federal prosecutors have said that fraud in 14 Medicaid programs in Minnesota could total as much as $9 billion or more since 2018, when all is said and done.
The fraud has prompted the Trump administration to send in more federal prosecutors to assist with the investigation into fraud in the state. At the same time, six federal prosecutors in the U.S. Attorney's Office resigned on Tuesday, reportedly over an investigation into the widow of Renee Good, the woman killed by ICE officers last week.
Big picture view:
Speaking Tuesday, President Trump went a step further, vowing to stop all federal funding for all sanctuary states.
"Starting February 1st, we're not making any payments to sanctuary cities or states having sanctuary cities because they do everything possible to protect criminals at the expense of American citizens," President Trump said during an address in Detroit. "And it breeds fraud and crime and all the other problems that come. So we're not making any payment to anybody that supports sanctuary cities."
President Trump did mention the exact states or cities during his address.