The National Health Law Program (NHeLP) condemns the Trump administration’s decision to freeze $1.3 billion in federal Medicaid funding for California, calling the move a dangerous attack on Medicaid home and community-based services (HCBS) and the Californians who rely on them. This most recent funding freeze follows similar actions by the administration in Minnesota.
California’s investments in HCBS reflect decades of advocacy and evidence showing that people thrive when they can receive care in the settings they choose
“Home and community-based services allow older adults and people with disabilities to remain in their homes, connected to their families, neighbors, and communities, rather than being forced into institutions,” said Kim Lewis, NHeLP’s Managing Director of California Advocacy. “California’s investments in HCBS reflect decades of advocacy and evidence showing that people thrive when they can receive care in the settings they choose. Freezing funding for these critical services threatens the health, dignity, and independence of millions of Californians.”
NHeLP warns that the funding freeze is part of a broader effort to justify sweeping federal Medicaid cuts enacted under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. The administration has offered no evidence that California’s HCBS programs are fraudulent, only that more people are receiving the services that they need.
“This decision is a distraction and an unsubstantiated, cruel justification for deeply unpopular trillion-dollar Medicaid cuts,” said Jennifer Cannistra, Executive Director at NHeLP. “These attacks are aimed at the health and dignity of low-income people, people with disabilities, and the care workers who support them. Medicaid home and community-based services help people thrive in their communities. Threatening those services puts people at risk of institutionalization, worse health outcomes, and needless suffering.”
NHeLP urges the administration to immediately reverse the funding freeze and stop targeting Medicaid programs that provide essential services to low-income and underserved communities.
