Rep. Panetta Joins Rep. Barragán, California Lawmakers in Urging Reversal of $1.1 Billion Federal Funding Freeze to Critical Medicaid-Funded Program

Washington, D.C. - United States Representative Jimmy Panetta (CA-19) joined Reps. Nanette Barragán (CA-44), Zoe Lofgren (CA-18), Doris Matsui (CA-07), and Derek Tran (CA-45), along with other members of the California Congressional Delegation, in urging Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Administrator Mehmet Oz to reverse the Administration's decision to defer $1.1 billion in federal funding for California's In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS) program.

The lawmakers emphasized that IHSS serves more than 900,000 Californians and provides critical daily supports, including personal care, meal preparation, and medical assistance. The members raised serious concerns that CMS's justification - allegations of waste, fraud, and abuse - lacks sufficient evidence and instead results in broad, indiscriminate funding delays that harm beneficiaries and caregivers alike. They underscored that California's increased IHSS expenditures reflect deliberate investments to meet growing needs.

"CMS has targeted California's IHSS program and other HCBS programs across the country by using claims of 'waste, fraud, and abuse' as a smoke screen to rip health care away from millions of Americans who rely on Medicaid-funded HCBS," wrote the lawmakers. "The undersigned Members agree that there should be efforts to combat waste, fraud, and abuse to ensure bad actors are held accountable. If the Trump Administration were serious about addressing fraud, it would take actions based on evidence, according to federal law, and aimed at improving program integrity. Yet CMS has chosen to defer significant funds for these services across the board, which will impact all recipients and providers."

"In addition, Congressional Republicans and the Trump Administration are harming patients through $1 trillion in cuts to Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act and undermining actual efforts to fight fraud, including the Administration's decision to fire at least 17 inspectors general, including the Inspector General for the Department of Health and Human Services," continued the lawmakers.

Members of the delegation warned that defunding IHSS could force individuals into more costly institutional care or homelessness, ultimately increasing federal spending and destabilizing care systems. The lawmakers called on HHS to immediately restore the funding in order to protect access to essential Medicaid services.

In addition to Reps. Panetta, Lofgren, Matsui, and Tran, the letter was also signed by Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi (CA-11) and Reps. Pete Aguilar (CA-33), Ami Bera (CA-06), Julia Brownley (CA-26), Salud Carbajal (CA-24), Judy Chu (CA-28), Gil Cisneros (CA-31), Lou Correa (CA-46), Jim Costa (CA-21), Mark DeSaulnier (CA-10), Laura Friedman (CA-30), John Garamendi (CA-08), Jimmy Gomez (CA-34), Josh Harder (CA-09), Jared Huffman (CA-02), Sara Jacobs (CA-51), Sydney Kamlager-Dove (CA-37), Ro Khanna (CA-17), Mike Levin (CA-49), Ted Lieu (CA-36), Dave Min (CA-47), Kevin Mullin (CA-15), Scott Peters (CA-50), Luz Rivas (CA-29), Raul Ruiz (CA-25), Linda Sánchez (CA-38), Brad Sherman (CA-32), Lateefah Simon (CA-12), Mark Takano (CA-39), Mike Thompson (CA-04), Norma Torres (CA-35), Juan Vargas (CA-52), Maxine Waters (CA-43), and George Whitesides (CA-27).

Full text of the letter is available here and below:

Dear Administrator Oz:

As members of the California Congressional Delegation, we write to express strong opposition to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services' (CMS) extreme and unprecedented action to defer $1.1 billion in federal funding tied to California's In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS) program.

IHSS is a type of state and federally Medicaid-funded Home and Community-Based Services (HCBS) that enables eligible seniors, adults with disabilities, and children to remain safely in their own homes rather than in an institutional setting, like a nursing facility. The IHSS program currently serves over 900,000 Californians who rely on the services to support their activities of daily life, such as bathing, dressing, cooking, cleaning, medication administration, accompaniment to medical appointments, and protective supervision for those who require 24-hour supervision.

CMS has targeted California's IHSS program and other HCBS programs across the country by using claims of "waste, fraud, and abuse" as a smoke screen to rip health care away from millions of Americans who rely on Medicaid-funded HCBS. The undersigned Members agree that there should be efforts to combat waste, fraud, and abuse to ensure bad actors are held accountable. If the Trump Administration were serious about addressing fraud, it would take actions based on evidence, according to federal law, and aimed at improving program integrity. Yet CMS has chosen to defer significant funds for these services across the board, which will impact all recipients and providers. CMS' primary basis for fraud claims is the growth in California's IHSS expenditures, when in fact the state of California has provided reasonable explanations for this growth in spending as a result of intentional and purposeful investments to ensure care for this population.

In addition, Congressional Republicans and the Trump Administration are harming patients through $1 trillion in cuts to Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act and undermining actual efforts to fight fraud, including the Administration's decision to fire at least 17 inspectors general, including the Inspector General for the Department of Health and Human Services.

Medi-Cal is the primary payer and often the only option for low-income older adults and people with disabilities to receive the care they need. Reducing access to IHSS and other HCBS threatens the health and financial stability of seniors, adults with disabilities, and children as well as the providers who care for them. This funding deferral could force the state to reduce IHSS services, increasing the risk of people forced into homelessness or institutional care settings, both of which are far more expensive to the federal government.

We urge CMS to reverse course and immediately restore the IHSS funds, protecting seniors and people with disabilities as well as the caregivers who support them.

Sincerely,