Birth centers are unavailable in 10 states, and 39% of birth center births are self-pay, as licensing and Medicaid pay limit access, a report finds.
Feature|Articles|July 14, 2026
Medicaid Fraud Crackdown Intensifies, But Is It Solving the Right Problem?
Author(s)Pearl Steinzor
Fact checked by: Maggie L. Shaw
CMS's enforcement surge has put every Medicaid Fraud Control Unit under review, but experts say the bigger driver of coverage loss may be red tape.
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In January 2026, Minnesota received a letter from CMS announcing it would begin withholding $515 million in quarterly federal Medicaid payments, citing unresolved program integrity concerns.1 The state sued. A federal court dismissed the case on procedural grounds in April, and even after CMS accepted Minnesota's corrective action plan the following month, the withheld funds were not released.2 By May, CMS had gone further still, deferring $1.3 billion in federal Medicaid funding to the state—the largest deferral action in the agency's history.3
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