At least three U.S. lawmakers said on Tuesday healthcare providers were blocked from the Medicaid payment portal after the Trump administration announced a federal funding pause, even as the White House said the program was exempted.

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.

Washington has joined 21 other states in a lawsuit seeking to block the federal government from freezing billions in federal funding an array of state programs including ones centered on education, roads and health care.

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.

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.

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

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

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.

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.

Senator Bill Cassidy, a physician and key G.O.P. vote, joined Democrats in aggressively questioning Robert F. Kennedy Jr., President Trump’s pick for health secretary. He did not say how he would vote.