Kennedy about his views on vaccines and abortion, President Donald Trump's nominee to lead the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services was also asked how he'd run the two largest government health insurance programs − Medicare and Medicaid.
The Medicaid website was down, but the portal was expected to be back up shortly, said White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt. She wrote on X that no payments had been affected and that they were still being processed and sent.
The new Department of Government Efficiency can't go after Medicare or Social Security. That leaves Medicaid in a vulnerable position.
When Gov. Greg Abbott signed House Bill 12 into law in May 2023, Texas became the 41st state to extend postpartum Medicaid to 12 months. It was a victory years in the making, after several sessions of advocacy from health care providers, maternal health experts and moms themselves.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -At least three U.S. lawmakers said on Tuesday healthcare providers were blocked from the Medicaid payment portal after the Trump administration announced a federal funding pause, even as the White House said the program was exempted.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. struggled to answer questions from Sen. Bill Cassidy (R., La.,) about Medicare and Medicaid. When asked about how care for people who are eligible for both federal health programs could be integrated,
Kennedy made inaccurate claims about Medicare and Medicaid during his confirmation hearing.
The outage at least temporarily jeopardized payments the federal government makes to state programs, and sowed uncertainty for patients, doctors, hospitals and others.
Just one day after the White House announced the federal funding freeze, the Medicaid payment portal went down, according to Trump's Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt.
At least 20 states were unable to draw funds from an HHS payment system hours after the White House ordered a pause on the disbursement of grants and loans.