The federal and state crackdowns on fraud in Minnesota are creating collateral damage in programs aimed at helping people with disabilities.
One nonprofit says it is at risk of shutting down because of potential funding pauses. But supporters of the crackdown say it’s all necessary to get to the root of schemes that have cost Minnesota taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars.
The latest crackdown is from Dr. Mehmet Oz, the director of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. In a statement on X, Oz said, in part, “Our message to Walz is clear either fix this in 60 days or start looking under your bed for spare change because we are done footing the bill for your incompetence.”
“We are glad to see CMS affirming the governor’s executive action and look forward to continuing to work together,” Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz said in response.
In late October, Walz announced the audit of 14 high-risk state Medicaid-funded programs, warning their funding could be paused.
Non-profits should not rely on government funding to remain operative. These non-profits are doing nothing but redistributing our tax dollars, and possibly skimming some for themselves.