A Flawed Provider Revalidation Process at DHS
by Senator Jason Rarick

Fraud is the topic on everyone’s minds, and every time a new story comes out, it seems many of these fraudsters are targeting human services programs meant to help our most vulnerable: things like Medicaid, housing, and autism services. And let us not forget, this all started when the Feeding Our Future fraud was uncovered, which was a covid-era program meant to provide meals to children. Time and time again, we’re seeing these stories and it’s clear Minnesotans are fed up with their taxpayer dollars lining the pockets of fraudsters.

For a few years now, Senate Republicans have been leading the charge on fighting fraud. We’ve been raising the alarm since 2020, when we saw many red flags in the Feeding Our Future program, and even before, back in 2019, when there were issues in the Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP). This year, we were finally able to get some meaningful reforms that will go a long way toward saving taxpayer money and restoring trust in these programs.

Amidst all these allegations, the federal government renewed the requirement for Minnesota to come into compliance with things like provider screening and a revalidation system if Minnesota wanted to continue receiving federal funding. These requirements were not “new,” but they finally had consequences attached to them. Given the level of fraud we saw, I think that was necessary. These were commonsense safeguards to protect taxpayer dollars.

I’m sure many folks remember last year the Department of Human Services hired Optum to produce a report on the fraud occurring in their programs. That was meant to be a “road map” to get things under control. Well, they came in, did their research, published their findings, and the only thing legislators had access to was a heavily redacted report. Everything in there became a blind spot for lawmakers. How were we expected to address something we couldn’t see? That meant it was up to DHS to take the steps needed to get things under control.

As a result, DHS began implementing a revalidation process. They asked providers across the state to apply for reauthorization, but the information and resources given to providers were very inadequate. In fact, I heard from providers in my area that when they reached out for help multiple times, they would sit on the phone for a long time, get bounced around, ultimately never getting the answers they needed.

Because of yet another botched DHS rollout, as of June 1, about 3,300 providers have been notified that they are not being reauthorized. We’re talking about long-standing providers with decades of successful operation and compliance, and they are now unable to bill Medical Assistance or pay their employees. Because of this, we're going to harm Minnesotans who truly rely on these services. And while there is a 60-day appeal process, that is far too long for providers to wait for a resolution. In our part of the state alone, I've heard from three groups in my district that say two months without reimbursements will force them to go under. And then what are we going to do? Folks, we need to solve the fraud problem, but not on the backs of those most in need.

Because of how bungled this entire process has been, a number of senators and representatives recently sent a letter to Governor Walz asking for clarity on this issue, as well as commonsense solutions like a dedicated line for affected providers, a centralized DHS team to resolve cases in a timely manner, and regional oversight to ensure no corner of the state is ignored. Over 70 legislators signed this letter because we know this is an incredibly important matter that needs to be solved in a way that doesn’t compromise critical services many Minnesotans rely on.

The bottom line is this: we all know about the fraud – we all want to get our hands around it and stop it, and legislators from both sides of the aisle are working to get this issue resolved. We even have whistleblowers within DHS who want to get this figured out. The problem lies in the upper levels of DHS administration, the carousel of ever-changing commissioners, and Governor Walz – it’s time for them to stop making excuses and start fixing problems. We all want to root out the fraud, but we must do so in a way that protects legitimate providers and ensures vulnerable Minnesotans do not lose access to the care and services they depend on.