The District of Columbia'sMedicaid program, which covers around 220,000 low-income and disabled city residents, said Thursday it is stopping paying health providers until the federal government shutdown is resolved.

Many D.C. government services such as trash pick-up have continued to run because the city is drawing on a $144 million contingency fund to pay for them in the absence of being able to use its 2014 budget, hamstrung by the budget showdown.