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News Alert: Did Yesterday’s Medicaid Payment System “Blackout” Change Anything?

Medical Healthcare and Medicine Concept - Doctor in hospital with digital medical icons graphic interface showing symbol of medicine, health care peopleTemporary Medicaid Blackout

Yesterday, President Trump’s administration announced a freeze on federal grants and loans to assess their alignment with the administration’s priorities. Although Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid were supposed to be exempt, the freeze (caused by an inadvertent server “outage” according to the Trump administration) temporarily affected Medicaid payment portals, causing great concern for healthcare providers nationwide, who yesterday were unable to access the system to secure Federal payments that have already been allocated to the states.

In response to the widespread confusion and potential harm to essential services, a federal judge in Washington, D.C., temporarily blocked the administration’s funding freeze just before it was set to take effect. Some people in the government say that the payment system blockage was intentional, and not an accidental server outage. Regardless the Federal judicial intervention happened and then access was restored to Medicaid payment systems and other critical funding channels, ensuring that healthcare providers could continue their operations without interruption.

The situation demonstrates the delicate balance between sweeping administrative policy decisions and the practical implications for essential public services such as Medicaid.

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About Evan H Farr, CELA, CAP

Evan H. Farr is a 4-time Best-Selling author in the field of Elder Law and Estate Planning. In addition to being one of approximately 500 Certified Elder Law Attorneys in the Country, Evan is one of approximately 100 members of the Council of Advanced Practitioners of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys and is a Charter Member of the Academy of Special Needs Planners.

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