The DFL's Medicaid fraud prevention plan doesn't exist

Saying that the Minnesota Department of Human Services either isn't interested in preventing Medicaid Fraud or is worthless at it is understatement. This CBS article is a disgrace to Minnesota's Department of Human Services. It isn't surprising to find out that the U.S. federal government is investigating.

DHS Temporary Commissioner Shireen Gandhi issued a statement on the federal investigation which said "The search warrants executed today at several Housing Stabilization Services providers are the result of the critical partnerships between the Minnesota Department of Human Services (DHS), the Minnesota Department of Public Safety Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA), the Office of Attorney General and federal offices and is an important example of our shared commitment to work together to ensure Medicaid program integrity. The DHS Office of Inspector General (OIG) regularly provides investigative data and information about Medicaid provider targets to our law enforcement partners so they can build actionable cases to hold bad actors accountable."

That's thoroughly unacceptable. The goal should be Medicaid fraud prevemtion. It shouldn't be about fraud investigations after the fraud has happened.

As long as Tim Walz is Minnesota's governor or other DFL politicians are in charge of preventing fraud, Medicaid Fraud will continue. In this news report, Tim Walz told multiple whoppers:

The Minnesota legislature passed a couple of bills that give the state more tools in investigating fraud. Until we have a GOP governor who's committed to preventing Medicaid fraud, Minnesota's taxpayers will keep getting ripped off.

The DFL has proven that they aren't serious about preventing Medicaid fraud. Thus far, the federal government has investigated the Feeding Our Futures scam, the Housing Stabilization Services scam, another scam involving a program designed to help autistic children and several other Medicaid-related scams.

Acting U.S. Attorney Joseph Thompson estimates the fraud bill to top $1,000,000,000. I spoke to a reporter who frequently writes about Medicaid fraud. This reporter thinks that Minnesota Medicaid fraud will top $2,000,000,000. If I were a betting man, I'd bet on the reporter's figure being more accurate.

Some lawmakers are saying a new office to handle these issues needs to be reconsidered after being cut during special session budget negotiations. "We need to take this more seriously and reconsider the proposal to have an Office of Inspector General that is statewide and enterprise-wide and truly independent of the executive branch," Rep. Walter Hudson, R-Albertville.

Rumor has it that DFL Gov. Tim Walz had the Inspector General bill filibustered to death the last night of the regular session. I find that totally believable. Gov. Walz hasn't shown any interest in preventing Medicaid fraud.