Minnesota Governor Tim Walz has ordered a third party audit on the billing practices of 14 Medicaid services that are deemed to be "high risk" for fraud in Minnesota.
The Department of Human Services is contracting with Optum using funds passed during the 2025 legislative session in an effort to flag potentially fraudulent claims.
Temporary DHS Commissioner Shireen Gandhi says all payments will go through a pre-review.
"If there is something missing, concerning maybe, it's an error," says Gandhi. "Maybe it's fraud or potentially we think it's fraud, then that's gonna take a closer review."
Walz says that the review of payments could result in longer wait times before the providers are paid, but the state will still meet federal rules which require payment within 90 days.
In a statement Republican House Speaker Lisa Demuth and House Floor Leader Harry Niska say it is "shocking to learn that the Walz Administration has only now identified 14 programs as high risk for Medicaid fraud."
They go on to say Minnesotans have "watched scandal after scandal unfold under Governor Walz, but the fact that there are more than a dozen programs under suspicion proves that Walz’s fraud crisis is far worse, and far more widespread, than anyone was led to believe."