State GOP Representatives Testify on Capitol Hill On Minnesota Fraud

(KNSI) — State Representative Kristin Robbins and two other Republican colleagues testified Wednesday to the U.S. House Oversight and Government Reform Committee on the staggering fraud scandals that have dominated local headlines.

Robbins told Chair James Comer that she has learned culture matters. Criminals pick up on when fraud isn’t a serious priority for leaders, and take advantage. She also expressed the need for tough internal controls in government, especially when it comes to flagging repeat abusers.

“You have to look at the interconnections of relationships in businesses in multiple program areas in Medicaid, it’s a huge red flag that has been ignored in our state. Finally, it is important to say what is true and to stand up against fake allegations of racism or Islamophobia. Crime is crime, no matter who is committing it”

Representative Walter Hudson, who represents eastern Wright County around St. Michael and Albertville, says the issue goes beyond outright fraud and challenged Congress to reimagine how they think of the problem.

“The full scope of the problem is not just criminal fraud, but a culture of profiting from government programs in perpetuity, not as a safety net, but as an industry.”

Hudson went on to say he knows of consultants who help clients maximize the amount of federal aid they receive, which may be legal but not in the spirit of what the programs were designed to accomplish.

Representative Marion Rarick gave more details about efforts within state government to silence fraud whistleblowers. She told the committee that anyone asking questions was often blacklisted from all government agencies, de facto career suicide, if they spoke up. She believes that applies to large Twin Cities-area counties like Hennepin or Ramsay.

Rarick added that the threats didn’t stop there. “They also described that supervisors asked them questions about their families that, to them, felt like a threat. One example was, ‘We need to know where your kids go to school and where their bus stops are.'”

All three are on the Minnesota Fraud Prevention and State Agency Oversight Policy Committee, which has been working to address the fraud issue that has plagued 14 different Medicaid programs administered by the Walz Administration. Suspected fraud could be as high as $9 billion since 2018.

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