AXIOS (Adriel Bettelheim) - Trump admin freezes more than $1 billion in Medicaid funds
The Trump administration is halting more than $1 billion in federal Medicaid payments to California and Minnesota until the states take more steps to investigate questionable claims, federal health officials said on Tuesday. Why it matters: The moves continue a series of freezes to blue states' funding as part of the administration's crackdown on fraud. - They also maintain scrutiny of Minnesota's safety net funding after the administration used the state's inability to rein in fraud as justification for launching last year's ICE enforcement surge. Driving the news: The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services said it's deferring about $867.5 million in Medicaid payments to California and $199 million to Minnesota after financial…