Trump’s federal grant pause creates confusion over Medicaid funding [Video]

The Trump administration’s freeze on federal grants sparked chaos and confusion at state Medicaid agencies on Tuesday.Although the White House insisted that Medicaid, which provides health insurance to more than 72 million low-income Americans, was not affected by the freeze that it announced Monday evening, state Medicaid officials found themselves locked out of the federal funding portal for hours on Tuesday. They started to regain access to the system in the afternoon.The administration sent conflicting messages about Medicaid. The Office of Management and Budget memo announcing the pause on Monday said Social Security, Medicare and direct assistance to individuals would not be affected, but did not mention Medicaid. The office issued a Q&A the following day stating that “mandatory programs like Medicaid and SNAP (food stamps) will continue without pause.”But during the first White House press briefing of President Donald Trump’s second term, press secretary Karoline Leavitt could not immediately …