After losing access to a Medicaid federal funding portal after an aid freeze by the Trump administration, states say they’re regaining access, but some are reporting that the site isn’t functioning “correctly.”
One day after the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) issued a memo stating agencies must halt “all activities related to obligation or disbursement of all federal financial assistance,” state Medicaid offices reported they had lost access to the payment portal through which federal funds are drawn.
In October 2024, nearly 80 million people were enrolled in Medicaid, more than 37 million of whom were children.
The White House said it was aware of the problem later on Tuesday afternoon. By late afternoon, several states, including Connecticut, Hawaii, North Carolina, and Maryland, had confirmed to The Hill that their access had been restored.
According to Alex Huseman, public information officer for the Alaska Department of Health, her department was unaware of any lapses in access to the federal payment portal on Tuesday, with operations “functioning as normal” when contacted by The Hill.
Though an OMB memo issued on Tuesday stated that “any program that provides direct benefits to Americans is explicitly excluded from the pause and exempted from this review process,” state offices contacted by The Hill detailed disruptions in their Medicaid programs.
A spokesperson for the New York State Department of Health said, “OMB’s updated Q&A document makes it clear that mandatory programs like Medicaid will continue without pause. However, like other states, we have seen issues today accessing HHS’ Payment Management System, which is used to support a multitude of health programs.”
Though states reported regaining access, some noted there appeared to be issues with the portal.
Amanda Stevens, public information and communications officer for the Hawaii Department of Human Services, told The Hill that the portal was slower than usual after access was regained.
Chase Cook, director of communications for the Maryland Department of Health, confirmed in a statement to The Hill that access to the Medicaid Payment Management System was temporarily lost on Tuesday.
“While we have regained access, the site is not functioning correctly. The system is critical to ensuring timely reimbursement for health care provided to Medicaid patients,” noted Cook. “We are continuing to test the site and hope that further functionality is restored amid these conflicting directives from the federal government.”
