Federal Funding Freeze: What It Means for Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid
White House halts federal grants and programs impacted by executive orders; OMB clarifies Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid will not be affected.
If you are worried about the state of your benefits and health care after the recent announcement of a potential federal government funding freeze, you are not alone. However, don’t be discouraged. The White House maintains that, regardless of the freeze, Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) benefits and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits, along with Medicare and Medicaid, are protected.
President Trump’s office announced in an Office of Management and Budget (OMB) memo Monday, Jan. 27 that it was freezing the disbursement of federal grants, loans, and other financial assistance programs in an executive order.
The White House announced that they were rescinding the memo on Wednesday, Jan. 29. However, given the severity of the implications of the freeze and the White House’s defense of the order earlier that day, pundits are still speculating. Because of the concern, U.S. District Judge Loren L. AliKhan temporarily blocked the order until Monday, Feb. 3. You still may be wondering could Trump’s executive order affect Social Security benefits?
The White House said that programs providing direct assistance to Americans, such as Medicare, Social Security, and food stamps, would not be affected by the freeze. These programs are fundamental lifelines for elderly and disabled individuals who rely on these benefits for basic necessities.
Although an outage of Medicaid’s online portal was reported on Tuesday, Jan. 28, the site has since been fixed and is fully operational. Reports confirmed that no funding was paused, and payment processing was not disrupted.
This story is still developing and will be updated as needed.