A group of Idahoans are calling on the state's leaders to protect Medicaid as conversations around cuts in Washington D.C. continue.

The ideas being proposed could amount to more than $2 trillion of cuts to the countrys public health insurance program for low-income and disabled Americans over the next decade and could potentially push millions of people off the program.

Medicaid is a joint federal and state program that provides health care coverage to low-income individuals and families. It services over 79 million Americans.

At least 20 states were unable to draw funds from an HHS payment system hours after the White House ordered a pause on the disbursement of grants and loans.

The outage at least temporarily jeopardized payments the federal government makes to state programs, and sowed uncertainty for patients, doctors, hospitals and others.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. struggled to answer questions about Medicare and Medicaid, programs that affect tens of millions of Americans.

If he is confirmed as health and human services secretary, Kennedy would oversee the implementation of Medicaid, in addition to Medicare and the Affordable Care Act.

Since the pandemic, hospitals in Washington have lost $4.5 billion, according to the Washington State Hospital Association. But CEO Cassie Sauer said finances for the state's hospital system remain "fragile.

Protect Our Care, a liberal advocacy group, is launching a $10 million “Hands Off Medicaid” campaign that targets 17 GOP lawmakers.

Federal agencies must stop disbursing financial assistance starting at 5 p.m. today under a new budget directive, threatening funding for providers and creating significant uncertainty for Medicaid payments to states.

As the White House paused federal grants and loans in a far-reaching executive order, early childhood education centers and states discovered Tuesday they could no longer access money they rely on to provide care for some of the nation’s neediest families and children.