HHS to Defer Another $1.2 Billion in California Medicaid Payments, CMS Administrator Announces at White House
WASHINGTON — Mehmet Oz, Administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), announced at a White House Oval Office event on October 20 that the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) will defer another $1.2 billion in federal Medicaid payments to California, directed at the state's personal care services. Oz said he was making the announcement on behalf of Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr., and that California officials had been notified the same day.
Oz cited the program's growth: California's approvals for Medicaid-covered personal care services have grown by 24% in the last three years, twice the average rate of every other state. "Impossible for us to understand how that could be so," he said. He noted that such services include everyday help for older adults and people with disabilities, such as carrying groceries upstairs for one's mother, something "many of you would carry groceries upstairs for your mom for free." According to the Los Angeles Times, Oz did not provide evidence of fraud in making the announcement.
It is not the first such deferral. In May, the federal government withheld $1.3 billion in reimbursements over suspected fraud in hospice and in-home care programs. California Governor Gavin Newsom's office at the time called that move a politically motivated attack and argued that In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS) keeps seniors and people with disabilities out of nursing homes, costing about $30,000 a year per person compared with about $137,000 for nursing home care. California officials have also said the federal government has not provided sufficient evidence of fraud and that the program's growth reflects rising demand. The Governor's office had not responded to the latest deferral in the initial reports.
Oz made the announcement during the White House event unveiling the Fraud Whistleblower Incentive Program (WHIP), a $25 million program rewarding tips that lead to fraud convictions or major enforcement actions. The federal government has repeatedly tightened Medicaid funding to California this year on anti-fraud grounds, and the dispute between the state and Washington over the funds is continuing.
Related: Trump and Vance Announce $25 Million Fraud Whistleblower Incentive Program
(GSM, based on the official White House event and reporting by Bloomberg Law, the Los Angeles Times and the Washington Examiner)
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：位于华盛顿的美国卫生与公众服务部（HHS）总部大楼入口（资料图）。Photo: G. Edward Johnson, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons / Entrance to the headquarters of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in Washington (file photo). Photo: G. Edward Johnson, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
