Amid Ongoing Fraud Issues, Department of Human Services Commissioner Steps Down

(KNSI) — Minnesota Department of Human Services Commissioner Jodi Harpstead is stepping down, effective February 3rd.

“I want to extend my deepest thanks to Commissioner Harpstead for answering the call of public service five and a half years ago,” said Governor Tim Walz, who appointed Harpstead in 2019. “I am proud of her work running the most complex and wide-ranging agency in state government. I am especially proud of how Commissioner Harpstead supported the enterprise-wide work to separate DHS into three separate agencies, which will make each of them more effective, more accountable, and easier to manage.”

Those agencies include the DHS, the Department of Children, Youth and Families, and the Department of Direct Care and Treatment.

Following allegations of massive fraud, it was suggested the DHS was too big and should be broken up.

The dysfunction within the DHS has been no secret. In 2019, reports surfaced that the agency lost track of hundreds of millions of dollars dating back to 2014. They also overpaid Tribes $29 million for help with the opioid crisis and lost up to $271 million by failing to verify that people enrolling in public healthcare programs were eligible. There was the $30 million health care write off due to a software glitch, $72 million in child care fraud, and the department paid out $3.7 million in Medicaid benefits to dead people.

More recently, it was found that a man indicted as part of the $250 million Feeding Our Future scheme had been getting payments from the DHS since 2016 to the tune of $49 million. In July, the DHS started looking into allegations within Minnesota autism centers due to potential Medicaid fraud. The state does not license autism centers. Providers sign up to get reimbursements through Medical Assistance, and the DHS then verifies the center’s credentials but is not fact checking the centers in person. It’s similar to how the Feeding Our Future fraud was allowed to continue.

In December, a report from the Minnesota Office of the Legislative Auditor found that the DHS had made $40 million in overpayments to Medical Assistance providers and had done little to recover that money.

In her announcement, Harpstead thanked both Walz and Lieutenant Governor Peggy Flanagan by saying it was an honor and a privilege to serve the people of Minnesota. “I have been so proud to be the Commissioner of the caring, competent, and high-capacity Department of Human Services. I’m pleased that we were able to balance new, stronger process controls with greater responsiveness to community partners, worked with the DHS grants and contracts team to imagine a re-design of the agency’s thousands of grants, and built an unparalleled team of strong senior leaders.”

The search for her replacement is ongoing.

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