U.S. Attorney says it's possible "half or more" of $18 billion paid out through Medicaid waiver programs are fraudulent

Today the U.S. Attorney’s office announced new fraud charges and revealed the massive scope of fraud through Medicaid waiver billing happening in the state. U.S. Attorney Joe Thompson said they had charged two men with traveling from Philadelphia, PA to Minnesota after hearing how easy it was to defraud the state. A separate case involved a man billing for autism treatment and using some of the funds to buy a semi-trailer.

U.S. Attorney Joe Thompson was candid in his assessment that Minnesota has a fraud problem, saying at one point that a significant amount, as much as half, of the $18 billion paid out through 14 Medicaid programs was fraud.

“It’s time for the Walz–DFL fraud pipeline to end,” Sen. Torrey Westrom (R-Alexandria) said. “I will continue to push and welcome the Trump administration’s efforts to help expose and stop fraud that it’s become painfully obvious Gov. Walz or Democrat Party leaders are totally incapable of stopping. In fact, the Democratic Party has gone to extraordinary lengths to block and cover up the past several years. Republicans have been raising these concerns for years. Now, finally, there is enough national attention to compel Minnesota media to start asking the investigative questions they should have been asking all along.”

Minnesota has seen fraud explode in ways other states have not. Recent federal actions include reviewing SNAP benefits, accounting for ghost students pilfering education loans, and a review of Minnesota’s unemployment insurance.

“Minnesotans should be outraged over these fraud issues and need to keep speaking up about this outrageousness,” Sen. Westrom concluded.