State Sues CMS/HHS for Withholding Medicaid Funding

March 5, 2026

On March 2, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison and the Minnesota Department of Human Services (DHS) filed a federal lawsuit against the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), for attempting to withhold $243 million in Medicaid payments from the state of Minnesota.  

Ellison and DHS will also be requesting that the court issue a temporary restraining order to immediately block the federal action. 

"Just as we fought back and won when they illegally tried to cut funding for childcare, hungry families, and our schools, we are suing them again today to make them follow the law,” Ellison said. 

"The move to withhold critical Medicaid funding by the federal government is a profound disservice to Minnesota physicians and other healthcare professionals who provide care to Medicaid patients across the state," MMA President Lisa Mattson, MD, said during an online press briefing that also included John Connolly, Minnesota Department of Human Services deputy commissioner and state Medicaid director, and Marcus Schmit, MPP, executive director for the National Alliance on Mental Illness Minnesota. 

Mattson, Connolly, and Schmit took part in the press briefing to explain to the media how Minnesotans would be affected if the federal cuts are upheld.