What is Tim Walz hiding at DHS?

It's apparent that Tim Walz is worried that he's on the wrong side of the Feeding Our Futures and Medicaid fraud issues. It's because, for the first time in his administration, he's paying attention to the issue.

According to Gov. Walz's executive order, "We have no tolerance for fraud in the State of Minnesota. Abuse of taxpayer dollars takes resources away from the people who need them most. If you commit fraud in Minnesota, you will be prosecuted and held accountable to the fullest extent of the law. While we will continue to urge the legislature to take further action, this executive order gives our agencies additional tools to safeguard taxpayer dollars." That's lovely sounding but it's 3-4 years late. Most of these programs got started at the start of COVID. Fraud started happening almost immediately. Joseph Thompson, the Acting U.S. Attorney for Minnesota, thinks that half of payments sent out through the Housing Stabilization Services (HSS) programs are paid to grifters (my word).

Another way to understand that Gov. Walz is worried about Medicaid fraud is by his actions. Yesterday, right before the start of the Committee hearing, Gov. Walz fired Eric Grumdahl, an assistant commissioner who oversaw the agency’s housing services. HSS is the biggest fraud riddled program other than Feeding Our Futures. This isn't insignificant by any stretch of the imagination. KARE11's report is illuminating:

A.J. Lego has done a good job chasing down this fraud for KARE11. This program has expanded rapidly:
HSS was established in 2020 as a means of connecting vulnerable adults with housing. The state estimated its annual operating cost to be around $2.6 million, but five years later, providers are billing the program upwards of $100 million per year.
The Walz administrtion is laying it on thick:
On Wednesday, Gandhi and DHS Inspector General James Clark told members of the Fraud Committee that DHS has no tolerance for fraud, and Gandhi said the agency has taken steps to prevent criminals from gaming the system. Despite those efforts, Gandhi said fraud has become more sophisticated and DHS’ tools to stop fraud are antiquated.
The Grumdahl firing doesn't pass the laugh test. The day before he announces he's running for a third term, Gov. Walz suddenly becomes an anti-fraud hardliner? Is that like prisoners finding religion right before their parole hearing? Death-bed happen occasionally. Like I said earlier, though, this one doesn't pass the laugh test.

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