Update: Shortly before the president's executive order was set to take effect at 5 p.m., a federal judge temporarily blocked it until Feb. 3.
Virginia health care providers were left unable to access the federal Medicaid portal Tuesday after President Donald Trump’s administration abruptly announced a freeze on all federal funding.
The announcement impacted the online system responsible for tracking and depositing federal health department funds, which blocked state Medicaid programs from logging into the Payment Management Services web portal run by the Department of Health and Human Services.
Nearly 2 million Virginians rely on Medicaid or Family Access to Medical Insurance Security for health care coverage. The federal government pays just over 50% of the costfor Medicaid in Virginia, which is the minimal amount required by law.
Julian Walker, vice president of communications for the Virginia Hospital & Healthcare Association, said in an emailed statement that VHHA “had been informed that reimbursement for work performed under federal health care grants has been suspended.”Walker said it’s unclear how the funding pause will impact reimbursements for Medicaid patient care, but that “VHHA intends to work with federal stakeholders to assess the potential programmatic and financial impacts of this federal action.”
Deepak Madala, director of Enroll Virginia — which helps Virginians enroll for insurance coverage through Medicaid, FAMIS and Virginia’s Insurance Marketplace — said in an email that the funding freeze is “likely to impact nearly all of the safety net health clinics.” Madala said those programs all receive federal grants through the Health Resources and Services Administration.
Virginia’s Community Health Centers are also feeling the impact of the pause on federal spending. A message posted Tuesday on the Virginia Community Health Care Associationwebsite says more than 400,000 Virginians who rely on community health centers for cost-effective, life-saving care will be affected.The group warned that the sudden lack of funding could force some care providers to close their doors “almost immediately” — leaving people without health care altogether.
Gov. Glenn Youngkin dismissed the concerns about disruptions to health care coverage, saying in an emailed statement that “the temporary pause by [the Office of Management and Budget] does not impact individual assistance and will not interrupt disaster recovery efforts, school and childcare funding, healthcare for seniors or low-income families.”
The governor said Trump’s executive order was an effort to identify areas of wasteful spending, describing the response to the action as “dangerous fearmongering” and a “partisan stunt to disseminate knowingly misleading information.”
Jahd Khalil contributed reporting.