Congressional lawmakers asked Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz to provide documents and information.
House Republicans said Tuesday they’ve opened up an investigation into allegations of Medicaid fraud in Minnesota, requesting information from state officials.
The chair of the Energy and Commerce committee and chairs of two House subcommittees said they are seeking records, documents, and communications from Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Shireen Gandhi, the temporary commissioner of Minnesota’s Department of Human Services, about alleged Medicaid fraud.
“The extensive fraud schemes being perpetrated in Minnesota have wreaked havoc on government-funded health programs. We have an obligation to ensure finite taxpayer dollars are being used responsibly, and that the most vulnerable Americans are not being exploited to the benefit of fraudsters and foreign actors,” Committee Chair Brett Guthrie (R-Ky.) and Reps. John Joyce (R-Pa.) and Morgan Griffith (R-Va.) said in a joint statement.
The letter to the Democratic governor’s administration, they added, is “the next step in the Committee’s work to root out fraud and restore program integrity in our federal health programs nationwide,” according to a press release.
They made note of a Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) audit of the state’s Medicaid program and its move to defer payments to “14 high-risk programs” in the state, such as rehabilitative mental health services, individualized home supports, adult companion services, residential treatment services, and more that cost around $3.75 billion yearly.
Lawmakers are seeking documents, records, and audits going back to 2019 to determine whether state authorities turned a blind eye to fraud in the state. The governor and state Medicaid Commissioner John Connolly will also have to provide records of their communications, the news release said.
“Ensuring Medicaid program integrity is critical to preserving access to vital health care services for those that need it most,” the House representatives told Walz, who has not yet publicly responded, in an accompanying letter.
Fraud targeting Medicaid in the state means that “children, pregnant women, the elderly, and people with disabilities” may not receive support, the letter said, adding that “many of Minnesota’s Medicaid programs were designed in such a way that made them vulnerable to fraud.”
CMS Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz told The Epoch Times in an exclusive interview this past week that the extent of the fraud in Minnesota allegedly reaches the highest echelons of the state government, and he signaled that more fraud investigations are on the way in other states, namely California.
