St. Paul, MN —Today, Governor Walz announced that he has ordered a third-party audit of Medicaid billing at DHS for 14 programs that DHS deemed high-risk. The review, conducted by Optum, will temporarily pause payments while the company analyzes claims data to identify irregularities and potential fraud. In response to this announcement, Representative Kristin Robbins (R-Maple Grove), Chair of the House Fraud Prevention and State Agency Oversight Committee, released the following statement:
"I am glad to see Governor Walz is finally taking action to audit these programs after years of ignoring credible allegations of fraud. I called for a full federal audit months ago and am glad he has decided to take this seriously.
I look forward to a full public report of the audit results, as well as transparency on how the auditor was selected and how much they are being paid to perform this work.
It is long past time for an independent audit of DHS, and I hope the Governor will join us in creating an independent Office of Inspector General in the Executive branch, so independent oversight of executive branch agencies becomes routine."
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