Minneapolis — The Minnesota Department of Human Services announced stronger oversight of housing stabilization and autism service providers on Friday, following a report this week by KARE 11 Investigates into allegations of questionable Medicaid billing.
Companies that provide housing stabilization and autism services will be classified as “high-risk” beginning June 1. That classification will allow DHS to take more aggressive action against those providers, such as fingerprint background checks for business owners, stricter screening before enrolling in Medicaid, and unannounced site visits to ensure no fraudulent activity is taking place.
Shireen Gandhi, DHS Temporary Commissioner, stated that there are 40 active fraud investigations into companies that provide housing stabilization services to the elderly and disabled. Meanwhile, there are active investigations into autism centers, including two that were raided by the FBI this winter.
In the most recent KARE 11 Investigates story, which aired Thursday night, Rachel Lien of Minneapolis claimed that the company Brilliant Minds Services billed Medicaid for thousands of dollars in housing services that she never received.
In an interview on Friday, Commissioner Gandhi described the story as “very upsetting.” While she would not confirm whether the company is under active investigation, she did say that any provider found to have committed fraud would be held accountable.
“It is completely unacceptable for providers to take advantage of Minnesota’s vulnerable citizens. “So we have to do everything in our power to stop them,” Gandhi stated. “DHS can investigate them, we can stop payments, we can suspend them, or disenroll them from the Medicaid program.”
With two weeks left in the legislative session, Gandhi urged state lawmakers to support Gov. Walz’s anti-fraud package, which includes increased DHS staffing, increased oversight, and the use of AI to detect suspicious payments.
Meanwhile, a bipartisan group of lawmakers in both the House and Senate has proposed establishing a statewide Office of Inspector General with the authority to investigate fraud throughout state government, though it is unclear whether Gov. Walz would support such legislation. (DHS has raised several concerns about the OIG proposal, including the possibility of duplicating responsibilities among existing inspectors general within state agencies.
“I think it’s really important for us to pass Gov. Walz’s fraud prevention package, or something similar,” says Gandhi, “so that we have better tools to protect our programs.”
On Monday morning, the Republican-led House Committee on Fraud Oversight will specifically address Medicaid fraud. Gov. Walz has previously stated that he supports some of the Republican proposals regarding fraud and is willing to work with them to reach a compromise.