Walz disputes claim Minnesota Medicaid fraud tops $9 billion

Gov. Tim Walz and officials with the Minnesota Department of Human Services on Friday cast doubt on a federal prosecutor’s estimate that fraud in state-run Medicaid programs since 2018 could total over $9 billion.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Joe Thompson on Thursday said providers in 14 “high-risk” programs being audited by the state have billed $18 billion since 2018, and “half or more” is possibly fraudulent.

“The fraud is not small. It isn’t isolated. The magnitude cannot be overstated,” said Thompson, who also announced new indictments.

But Walz, who is running for a third term, said the estimate is motivated by politics, and it’s a number created by the Trump administration, which has attacked the governor on multiple fronts in recent weeks.

“You’re seeing a weaponization. We’ll continue to fix (the fraud). They’re going to continue to come up with numbers that don’t have it there, and it’s sensationalized. I don’t expect anything different from this administration,” Walz said.

The governor said the goal of the “sensationalism” was to eliminate these governmental safety net programs for those who need it.

State Medicaid Director John Connolly told reporters that the Department of Human Services has evidence that substantiates fraud totaling tens of millions in these programs to date, not $9 billion. He said the U.S. attorney should turn over that evidence of fraud so DHS can stop it.

“We don’t have evidence in hand to suggest that we have $9 billion in fraud in these benefits over the last seven years,” Connolly said. “If there is evidence, we need it so that we can stop payment. That’s a very alarming number, and so if there is evidence — credible allegations of fraud — we need that information to take action now.”

Thompson — who has been a federal prosecutor since 2009 — for years led the prosecution of the Feeding Our Future fraud. That investigation mushroomed into other programs when investigators discovered that Feeding Our Future defendants had other state contracts. Thompson’s leading investigations into a state autism program and the Housing Stabilization Services program, which DHS shut down in August, citing “credible allegations of fraud.”

In July, Walz agreed with Thompson that fraud in Minnesota could exceed $1 billion.

Walz has been facing increasing scrutiny for the fraud that’s occurred under his administration. On Friday, Walz said he’s working to stop fraud on the front end and that he takes accountability for the fraud that’s occurred so far.

“This is on my watch. I am accountable for this. And more importantly, I am the one that will fix it,” Walz said.

This article originally appeared on St. Cloud Times