Lack of Oversight Responsible for Minnesota Billion Dollar Medicaid Fraud
Republished with permission from AbleChild
The Minnesota billion-dollar Medicaid fraud is about human failure. While the media currently is placing blame on failed vice-presidential candidate, Governor Tim Walz, this story is about an entire state apparatus that failed. That’s right. This is a story of humans paid to ensure that state and federal dollars were correctly spent…to be responsible stewards of the public treasury but whether by accident or intent failed miserably.
The buck obviously ultimately falls with Walz as Governor of the State and, in light of statements made by state personnel, Walz may very well be singularly responsible for the billion-dollar Medicaid fraud and may face re-election repercussions and even civil or criminal lawsuits.
Afterall, State employees accuse Walz of “systematically retaliating against whistleblowers using monitoring, threats, repression and did his best to discredit fraud reports.” The state employees further report that “instead of partnership we got the full weight of retaliation by Tim Walz.”
These statements were posted on the social media site X, but no backup documentation was provided to support the damning statements. But AbleChild knows well that the Medicaid programs that have been frauded were administered by state employees. Somebody in the state – some human – was aware of the fraud in the numerous Medicaid programs very early on.
There was no need to wait for whistleblowers within the frauded programs. State employees knew about the fraud so the question that needs to be asked is who had oversight? Who was responsible for ensuring that the Medicaid money (50% state funds and 50% federal funds) paid out was going to legitimate programs? Who in the Department of Health Services was boots on the ground, ensuring that the Medicaid “providers” actually existed and were legitimately providing services?
In January of this year, AbleChild wrote about fraud in the Early Intensive Developmental and Behavioral Intervention (EIDBI) treatment program in Minnesota. The program was created in 2017 to provide intensive treatment for autistic children under the age of 18 and was frauded to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars.
It’s of interest that when the program began, 41 children were treated in the program and two years later a whopping 328 were in the program, increasing Medicaid funding to the EIDBI providers 3000%. The FBI raided two of the EIDBI providers and found “substantial evidence that many of these companies have been submitting fraudulent claims for EIDBI services that were not actually provided or were not covered by the EIDBI program.”
So, after lengthy searches, it appears that state statute of the EIDBI program places the Commissioner of the Department of Health Services in Minnesota in charge of oversight of the EIDBI program. But everyone knows that Commissioners never do the actual work. State employees are hired to carry out the actual oversight. Unfortunately, there are no names or offices that are made public that reveal who the Commissioner put in place as boots on the ground to ensure the EIDBI program ran correctly.
A completely useless EIDBI Advisory Group was set up to provide community/professional input on the EIDBI program, but after careful review, AbleChild would suggest there are major conflicts of interest within the Advisory Group that may have led to some of the EIDBI fraud. AbleChild will follow up with an in-depth look at those conflicts of interest in the Advisory Group in a future article.
It is of interest, however, that of the 21 Advisory Group meetings held between 2017 and 2021 (no other meetings are listed in the archives after 2021) not one mention is made about any fraud within the EIDBI program. Zero. In fact, within a year of the program beginning, the Advisory Group recommended expansion of the EIDBI program with increased numbers of “providers.”
Many would argue that this expansion of the number of “providers” by the Commissioner of the Department of Health Services ultimately greatly increased the fraudulent Medicaid billing. It also should be noted that AbleChild was unable to find any mention by the Advisory Group of any oversight of the EIDBI program. The mentality among the Advisory Group appears to be focused on expanding services yet providing no guidance about who would provide oversight or even how oversight would happen among the EDIBI providers.
But the oversight issue should have been picked up by state employees who handle the payment of these providers. Afterall, would the extreme jump in the numbers of autistic children not catch someone’s attention at the state payment level? Was there not one state employee who questioned the increase of payments from $32 million in 2020 to $81million in 2021 and again rising to $133 million in 2022?
The Commissioner must answer for the obvious lack of oversight because had there been any oversight, AbleChild doubts the fraud would have occurred in the EIDBI program. These aren’t tough questions. Did the Commissioner of the Department of Health Services set up oversight of the EIDBI program and where can the oversight guidance be found?
Did the Commissioner ever have state employees validate EIDBI providers in person? Were there boots on the ground (even periodically) validating that the providers existed and were providing the services billed to the state? If not, why? Why would there have been no oversight into the EIDBI program required by the legislature or the Commissioner of the Department of Health Services?
The bottom line here is that real people run these Medicaid programs. The billing and payments are handled by flesh and blood people. How could the fraud have continued for years and hundreds of millions of dollars without state employees knowing about it?
While there now are a gazillion state and federal audits being conducted into the Minnesota Medicaid system, someone needs to ask the state employees what they saw. Was it a case of intimidation from the higher ups that caused the years-long fraud? If so, documented proof of the intimidation within the state agency needs to be made public. If not, then serious questions need to be asked about why there was no oversight of a billion dollars paid to seriously questionable Medicaid program providers.
Questions need to be asked of the legislature and of the numerous Commissioners who oversaw the EIDBI program. It seems completely unrealistic that legislators would enact programs without providing guidance on the oversight of the program. Humans are responsible. Whether by accident or intent, this fraud was carried out because humans allowed it to happen. The fraud did not happen in a vacuum. Blaming fraud on the guy at the top is too easy. There are lots of state employees between the provider and the Governor. It’s time to ask what did they know about this colossal fraud and let the chips fall where they may.
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Lack of oversight in that they looked the other way while the Somalis stole the system blind and made sure 'oversight' got adequate kick backs…
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Ya think…?
I believe it's the Lack of Imprisonment of Criminals, mixed with illegal alien Love on the Left, and tons of Lazy or Compromised people.
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don't fool yourself, fraud is rampant throughout the dfl government administration of every department in MN. This wasn't an accident, it was a design feature.
Some people did something!
Investigation will be over the day after the sun explodes.
I wouldn’t call it a “lack of oversight.” You can’t predict when criminals are going to steal money until after they do it. Some arrests are in order.
It's criminals committing crimes!
It's the Marxist Deep State Left committing crimes, one in the same!
It's business as usual in Blue states!
If it was never implemented in the first place…
They’re tapping the well until it’s stopped.
Baloney. It is not oversight. It is massive corruption on the part of the entire Somali community and the Demonic Party, in particular the MN Governor and Attorney General.
INTENTIONAL lack of oversight. This transcends incompetence.
Just like the billions flushed down the corrupt toilet of Ukraine with zero accountablity.
What other states are doing it too???
CA has a huge scam with medicare
may we have the names of the people responsible for handing out the grants? approving them? care to bet they are either somali or getting kickbacks?
Baloney. Know how I know? Because I could have done any one of these thousands of frauds that we've seen since the establishment of COVID aid slush funds. But I haven't taken advantage of any of them. No fake autism claims. No fake "feeding the children" outfits. No free phones or EBT cards or housing allowances.
Just a guy who works for what he has. Like hundreds of millions of people before me.
The difference here isn't government oversight, but an imported people group that disdains hard work and looks for any loophole to exploit for personal gain. Put an end to that, reinvigorate the idea of a high-trust, moral society and you'll see the need for government surveillance evaporate.
We're becoming less, and they're the ones multiplying.
This won't end well.
Lack of oversight? That’s like blaming the gun for killing someone. It’s the criminals who are to blame!
Who was the top dog in this fraud. Tampon Tim?
Every single government "program" is a program ripe for the fraudsters………and they immediately show up fraud it.
How about the entire appropriations committee in their legislature? Doesn't a 3000% increase in spending catch someone's attention by those forcing the taxes to fund it??? Going further, someone at the Federal level knew about this too.
All the corruption was exposed years ago with the Panama Papers, then just faded away and status quo continues same with Doge.
It wasn't lack of oversite – it was CRIMINAL Somalians.
I did not steal money and I had the same ability to lie and steal – guess what? I did not do it.
The lack of oversight? No, there was deliberate oversight. Put a bag of cash over here. Put a bag of cash over there. Anything left? Okay I will take it, hand it over.
Almost. While Waltz needs to be in prison for his knowledge and retaliation, the ultimate blame lies with the corrupt, immoral, and demonic evil African gene. Stop blaming the “enabler” and start calling out the real problem: Garbage people from a garbage land who know only violence and theft.
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Remember to spay and neuter your liberals
Not lack over oversite. More like politicians and leaders PARTICIPATED in the corruption.
The last act of a failed government is to loot the treasury.
So, you're saying basically that this will all go away and disappear, without oversight, or consequences???!!!!
Lack of oversight, or by design?
I'm going with the ladder because this is how politicians enrich themselves, their friends, and their families.
Heads need to roll over this but we know that, as usual, the DOJ won't deal with it. What they do, they do well, but they are inept and uninterested in really dealing with the Deep State. They are seeming more Deep State-ish, daily.
Get real, it was the "biden" (Obama 3.0) administration.
They were trying to destroy the United States.
It's JUST a BILLION Dollaros.
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Will anyone go to jail? No LOL!
No, it’s called playing stupid.
Democrats don’t do accountability.
Lack of oversightis a feature, not a bug.
This fraud didn't happen because of a lack of oversight, it happened because the bureaucratic administrative state crawled into bed with Somali pirates. Just because they are here, it doesn't change the culture.
Are you kidding yourself?
This fraud happened because way too many of We The People are way too IGNORANT and COMPLACENT … where way too many LEGAL American Citizens are way too distracted with football, sports betting, the Kardashians, and idiotic WOKENESS … while being hardly concerned at all with what is happening with our TAX DOLLARS in our local State Houses and in Congress in DC.
Don't kid yourself; it's no more complicated than that. It's the age-old story of ignorant, sleepy rubes being taken to the cleaners by self-serving sociopathic JUDAS politicians.
The irony in our case, here in America, is that in our NATION of supposedly one of Free Citizens, where we get what we deserve.
End of story. Period.
You maybe into self-flagellation, however, that does not change the fact that importing/allowing 3rd world foreign nationals to flood Our country is the citizens fault. Nowhere we're we presented with an open form asking Our permission. Trump is right send them all back to where they came from. A place where corruption and thievery are part of the genetic makeup.
Hard to see when you have your head up your butt.
CORRECT YOU ARE … as that is the problem with the VAST MAJORITY of We The People … who are way too complacent and way too IGNORANT … so much so, that, cycle after cycle, we re-elect into positions of POWERFUL GOVT AUTORITY the same gaggle of self-serving sociopathic JUDAS politicians … yet, we expect them to do our bidding.
What is going on with this corruption is just another example of We The People getting what we deserve.
End of Story. Period.
They come here to steal.
That issue/problem runs all the way thru medicare/medicaid and or any insurance company you can mention or have. Medical fraud is big, wide and massive. And the care provided, even if it really is provided, is ignorant/arrogant and substandard.
That issue/problem runs all the way through the APPARENT fact that, collectively, We the People are way too IGNORANT and COMPLACENT … the elected Powers-That-Be KNOW this … and, to get what they want, by hook or by crook, these Powers treat us accordingly.
Again, in our NATION of Free Citizens, we get what we deserve.
End of story. Period.
yes holistically speaking. Not everyone is an expert or informed when it comes to medical care. And none of us do the billing. We get ripped off, get put on hold to talk to a robot or a person who is robotic. Best practice is don’t see a Dr. unless you are run over by a train or similar incident.
Where is the GAO on this? How could it go on for so long????
And you expect otherwise? Please tell us why?
The GOA is acting in the same manner as the majority of We The People: largely IGNORANT and COMPLACENT.
IOW: in the NATION of supposedly FREE CITIZENS, we get what we deserve.
Fraud is not from a "lack" of something. Fraud is deliberate.
The lack of oversight was a feature to the plan not a flaw.
Word is wealthy Texans carrying cash to the Tulsa gun shows have been reported as being stopped by Oklahoma police.
Cash is confiscated under civil forfeiture. How did all that cash leave through the Minneapolis airport? Were people paid to look the other way? Just asking for a friend. They want a tsa job there.
Lack of ethics and morals. Wicked and evil people will face a day of judgment. Repent while there is time.
It's the fault of the bank for getting robbed since it did not have an armed guard.
We were all scratching our head as to why Kamala picked Walz as VP. I think we might have our answer. No way Kamala campaign raised $1.3 bil in 3 months. I think this fraud in Minnesota had a lot to do with the Kamala campaign. Maybe Walz was the one who was able to bankroll the campaign using all these fraudulent funds
exactly what they all want – is for crimes to only cause those of us hearing about them to scratch our head and ask why…! And that will pass for their doing something about it…
Wait and see NO ONE will be held accountable… lots of words will pass Period!!!
It's not a 'lack' of oversight.
It's the leftists supposed to be conducting oversight REFUSING to do it.
There is a big difference.
Plenty of oversight. Made sure the money went right where they wanted too. In their pockets.
There's not a single government entity that can be trusted with taxpayer funds. Shut every program down on every level. Oh and deport every Indian, every Muslim, every Somalian, etc etc
Lack of oversight was NOT the problem! Bidens FBI began investigations into Feed Our Future in 2021. The FBI set up video surveillance. They knew the fraud was massive. Instead of stopping the flow of Federal tax dollars to fund the fraud, they continued to send billions!
This crime goes way beyond Tim Waltz!
The Somalian criminals funded Waltz, Omar and Keith Ellisons campaigns for re-election!
I was once told,
The problem with Corruption in Government. It is allowed because the Fraudsters make all the NOISE. They allow it so they stay Quiet.
The problem with Corruption in Government is that We The People — supposedly FREE CITIZENS — permit it to happen, largely without a single whimper being heard, let alone a single shot being fired.
Why the attempt at spin? People perpetuate fraud, plain and simple. Either through laziness, ignorance, passiveness, or outright criminality. If you were given $1 BILLION as a leader to help others, wouldn't you ensure oversight?
Why the attempt at spin, you ask?
Answer: 'To avoid ACCOUNTABILITY … and perhaps to avoid incarceration.
So, the default action is spin … simply because, here in our USA, it is a time-tested, effective approach.
Here, in our USA, where the majority of We The People are way too concerned with football, sports betting, the Kardashians, and idiotic WOKENESS, the powers-that-be KNOW through direct REPEATED experience that the majority of We The People are way too IGNORANT and COMPLACENT to care enough about what is happening in our local State Houses and in Congress in DC.
Easy-peasy … where, sooner rather than later, our NATION will be transformed fundamentally from one of FREE CITIZENS to one of CONTROLLED SUBJECTS.
Now, won't all those Future Generations be so proud of how well the majority of us, while our LIBERTIES were being usurped by a tyrannical STATE, proudly SAT ON THE SIDELINES … NOT!
Lack of oversight my ARSE, it was set up and designed to do what it did and that was to be ripped off
The perpetrators were protected by those in power
You are certainly correct … where it is those in power who, We the People — through our Patriotic Action or InAction — put into office.
End of story. Look no further.
Where's DOGE?
We The People, through our collective IGNORANCE and COMPLACENCY, killed DOGE.
Period. Look no further.
It's the upcoming lack of accountability part that concerns me. A few patsies will receive their slap on the wrist but Walz, Ellison and Omar will skate, will get to keep their jobs and the grift will continue under "new and improved" oversight.
B as in B
S as in S
tampon tim knew years ago of the fraud and did nothing.
Well, he did punish the whistle blowers.
Follow the money and you will find the oversight!