Minnesota
Minnesota fraud is just the tip of a growing iceberg | Opinion
Minnesota’s scandals have showcased just how vulnerable large public systems can be to mismanagement, weak oversight and exploitation, especially since Democratic leadership failed to take action.
HHS freezes Minnesota childcare funds amid fraud claims
The federal Department of Health and Human Services froze all childcare payments to Minnesota, citing what it calls ‘blatant fraud’ at state daycares.
The great American author Mark Twain is purported to have said that it’s easier to fool people than to convince them that they have been fooled. Such has been the case with the latest developments in the bevy of fraud scandals that have enveloped my home state of Minnesota – so many that it’s hard to keep track – and now others.
Once a beacon of what a progressive utopian state could look like, full of nice people, beautiful lakes and leftist politicians like Gov. Tim Walz and Sen. Amy Klobuchar, Minnesota’s scandals have showcased just how vulnerable large public systems can be to mismanagement, weak oversight and exploitation, especially since Democratic leadership failed to take action.
Minnesota fraud looks worse than ever
A report released by the Office of the Legislative Auditor on March 17, about the Early Intensive Developmental and Behavioral Intervention Program, revealed that Minnesota’s Department of Human Services failed to fully investigate allegations that Medicaid programs were receiving kickbacks because agency officials didn’t think they had the authority. This turned out to be untrue.
Members of the Legislative Audit Commission wrote, “We disagree with DHS’s assertion that it did not have the authority to investigate allegations of kickbacks alone. Based on our analysis, DHS has had the authority to investigate allegations of kickbacks in MA (Medical Assistance) since the late 1990s.”
That audit report is the latest in the ongoing cases of fraud. So far, at least two Minnesota autism centers are under federal investigation on fake billing and kickbacks to parents who enrolled their kids in the programs, whether or not they even had an autism diagnosis.
On March 2, Abdinajib Yussuf pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud related to Medicaid billing for the Star Autism Center, which Yussuf opened in 2020. He submitted millions of dollars worth of claims for Medicaid reimbursement and collected more than $6 million in reimbursement funds, which he sometimes shared with parents of kids “enrolled.”
In December, Asha Hassan pleaded guilty to a similar scheme via Smart Therapy. Hassan agreed to pay nearly $16 million in restitution and faces potential time in prison.
There may be fraud happening in other states
Minnesota might not be the only state with rampant fraud related to government programs. On March 16, President Donald Trump signed an executive order launching a national task force led by Vice President JD Vance to uncover whether what happened in Minnesota is happening in other states.
A White House fact sheet said California, Colorado, Illinois, Maine and New York and are states with “insufficient” fraud oversight. On March 17, Trump also added Florida to the list of states to probe.
In June, the Department of Justice charged 15 people in a $10.6 billion health care fraud and money laundering scheme in New York, the DOJ announced charges in Medicare and Medicaid fraud schemes in Arizona totaling more than $1.1 billion, and it charged five defendants in California with over $14.6 billion in alleged false billings in a health care fraud and illegal drug diversion scheme.
In Texas, where I live now, in February federal authorities charged a Russian national with more than $1.8 billion in alleged schemes. Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, vowed to “strengthen” the state’s efforts to combat abuse.
Walz and others should be held accountable
Due to the scale and perpetual nature of the fraud scandal in Minnesota, Democratic leaders must be held accountable for their lack of oversight and failure to act. I’d say the same for Republican leadership.
On March 4, the U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform released an interim staff report showcasing just how poor leadership fueled Minnesota’s “fraud explosion.”
The report is based on interviews with former Minnesota state employees and documents showing that Gov. Walz and Attorney General Keith Ellison knew about “fraud concerns” as early as 2019, but that their failures to act allowed an “estimated $300 million in federal child nutrition funds and potentially $9 billion in Medicaid-related funds to be lost or placed at serious risk.”
I’m glad Walz bowed out of his reelection bid for governor, but I still can’t believe the Democratic Party tapped him as its vice presidential nominee in the 2024 election. He can’t govern Minnesota, much less help lead a nation.
In any case, to the horror of Minnesota taxpayers, these fraud scandals have already followed Walz much longer than his campaign for vice president ever has: Their loss is our gain.
Nicole Russell is an opinion columnist with USA TODAY. She lives in Texas with her four kids. Sign up for her newsletter, The Right Track, and get it delivered to your inbox.