00:00The federal government just withheld more than a billion dollars in Medicaid money to California and Minnesota.
00:05Nearly 400 million of it pays for a program that keeps 900,000 seniors and disabled people out of nursing
00:12homes.
00:12Here's what's happening.
00:13Medicaid works like a reimbursement.
00:15States pay the doctors and caregivers first, then send the bill to Washington to cover at least half.
00:20Under federal rules, the government can hold that money any time it questions a claim until the state proves the
00:26claim was legitimate.
00:27On July 21st, Health Secretary RFK Jr. and Medicaid Chief Dr. Oz held back $867 million from California and $199
00:36million from Minnesota,
00:37saying audits turned up claims that, quote, smelled like fraud.
00:41Most of California's share comes from one program that helps 900,000 seniors and disabled people stay in their homes
00:48instead of moving to nursing homes.
00:50Oz says spending on it grew 24% in two years against 12% nationally, and that, quote,
00:56Doesn't make sense.
00:57Gavin Newsom says it makes perfect sense.
00:59His office says keeping someone home costs about $30,000 a year.
01:03A nursing home costs $137,000.
01:07But the fraud concerns didn't come out of nowhere.
01:10Federal prosecutors charged 79 people in one Minnesota fraud scheme alone.
01:15When Minnesota sued over an earlier freeze, a Trump-appointed judge ruled it likely follows the law
01:20and also called it, quote,
01:24Now, Minnesota still lost because the money hadn't been denied per se.
01:29It had only been held, and you can't sue over a freeze with no end.
01:33And the government's 90-day clock doesn't start until it says the paperwork is good enough.
01:38Now, nobody's saying Washington can't hold this money,
01:41but should a state have to prove it earned every dollar before it sees any of it?
01:45So, let's do it.
