Lawmakers Alarmed as Medicaid Payment Portal Faces Outage After Funding Pause

Several U.S. lawmakers reported a blockage in the Medicaid payment portal following a federal funding pause announcement by the Trump administration. The White House assured that Medicaid was exempt from the pause. Over 70 million are covered by Medicaid, with federal funding totaling $618 billion in fiscal year 2024.

U.S. lawmakers expressed concern on Tuesday as healthcare providers reported being blocked from the Medicaid payment portal. This followed the Trump administration's announcement of a federal funding pause, although the White House maintained that the Medicaid program was not affected.

Karoline Leavitt, a spokesperson for the White House, confirmed awareness of the Medicaid portal outage and assured that it would be resolved promptly. She emphasized that no Medicaid payments were impacted by the funding pause.

Medicaid, which insures over 70 million people, is jointly financed by federal and state governments. Disbursements totaled $618 billion in fiscal year 2024. Democratic Senators, including Ron Wyden and Chris Murphy, criticized the outage, citing disruptions in healthcare access.

(With inputs from agencies.)