Minnesota lawmakers introduce bill to combat Medical Assistance fraud
Lawmakers on Monday introduced a bipartisan bill to address fraud in Minnesota’s Medicaid program, known as Medical Assistance.
The bill’s lead authors — Sen. Ann Johnson Stewart (DFL-Wayzata) and Rep. Matt Norris (DFL-Blaine) — and Attorney General Keith Ellison explained how the Medical Assistance Protection Act, or MAP Act, will shore up the state’s capacity to prosecute MA fraud and increase penalties for convictions.
Currently, only county attorneys are able to subpoena insurance and financial records. If passed, the MAP Act would extend that power over to the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit within the Attorney General’s Office.
It’s a unit that “punches above its weight,” Ellison and Morris said, but one that will need more resources as Minnesota’s Medicaid program expands.
The bill includes a provision to allocate roughly $400,000 annually to expand the MFCU by nine full-time staff members, bringing its total force up to 41, with a long-term goal of reaching 50 staff by 2028.
Johnson Stewart added that Minnesota has spent $6 million on the MCFU over the past five years — receiving three times that in matching federal funds — and has returned $53 million in recovered fraud and restitution.
“In addition to fighting for justice, they’re receiving a substantial financial payback,” Johnson Stewart said.
If passed, the MAP Act would also bring penalties for Medicaid fraud in line with Minnesota’s theft statutes.
“Right now, someone could steal millions in Medicaid, doing harm to our most vulnerable neighbors, and the maximum penalty would be the same as if they stole a flatscreen TV,” Ellison said. “And, of course, the lives of our people are much more precious than that.”
Under this new bill, the maximum sentence for cases of MA fraud totaling $35,000 or more would be 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $100,000.
The MAP Act already has support from DFL and Republican lawmakers in the House, and Johnson Stewart anticipated bipartisan support in the Senate soon.
Fraud in the crosshairs
Between the $250 million Feeding Our Future fraud scheme and tens of millions more of suspected fraud from autism centers and child care programs, preventing fraud in government programs has been a top priority for the Minnesota Legislature this session.
One of the first steps House Republicans took with their short-lived one-seat majority was to establish the Fraud Prevention and State Agency Oversight Policy Committee, created to consider legislation to tackle fraud and hear about the impacts fraud has had on state programs.
Last week, the committee heard from conservative think tank researcher Bill Glahn, who estimated more than $600 million had been defrauded from state programs since 2019. A DFL lawmaker on the committee was skeptical of Glahn’s expertise and claimed he “cherrypicked” the numbers “to achieve a political agenda.”
Also last week, the Minnesota House passed a bill to strengthen protections for whistleblowers within government agencies. Another bill is making its way through the Legislature to create an Office of the Inspector General, meant to be an independent watchdog for government agencies.
Gov. Tim Walz signed an executive order earlier this year to create a fraud unit within the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension. It’s a move BCA Superintendent Drew Evans says will centralize resources and create “consistent” standards for fraud investigations statewide.