Lawmakers support their access to full Optum report, but not the public

Legislators are one step closer to uncovering what’s under the black lines of a heavily redacted third-party audit of the state’s Medicaid system.

However, the public would remain in the dark.

Passed 107-27 by the House on Thursday and sent to the Senate, HF3378 would require the release of the full Optum report to legislators. “We want to be partners in not only fraud prevention but loss prevention,” said Rep. Joe Schomacker (R-Luverne), the bill sponsor.

Rep. Joe Schomacker

Since its release in January, legislators have wanted full access to the report that reviewed $9.4 billion in claims across 14 Medicaid services deemed at high risk of fraud. The report showed, in part, that stronger policies and prepayment safeguards could have saved more than $1 billion over the last four years.

Policy change is required to fix this, and members have argued they need full access to the report to inform their decision making. Redacted portions of the report included sections on general vulnerabilities and policy recommendations, Schomacker said.

[MORE: Bill to release unredacted Optum report on Medicaid fraud moves forward]

Because the report was taxpayer funded, it should be available to taxpayers too, said Rep. Drew Roach (R-Farmington). “We either have full transparency or we have no transparency.”

Schomacker said provisions on discretion are important to the purpose of the bill. “We don’t want to give the public a roadmap for fraud.”

State law requires legislators to maintain confidentiality, said Rep. Mohamud Noor (DFL-Mpls). “Hopefully nothing is going to get disclosed in public from what we review in private.”