Feds Discover Another $9 Billion in Medicaid Fraud... All in Tim Walz's Pirate Paradise of Minnesota

I'm able to connect through my phone now, but still not through my wifi. I guess that's something.

Nice.

US Attorney's Office: 'Half or more' of $18B billed through state programs tied to fraud

As the U.S. Attorney's Office announced a new batch of charges related to suspected fraudulent billing in Minnesota's government services, officials painted a dire portrait of just how extensive the problem might be.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Joe Thompson on Thursday said the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) pulled claims for 14 programs identified by Minnesota officials as being particularly vulnerable to fraud and found $18 billion in Medicaid billing since 2018.

While not all of those payments were illegitimate, Thompson estimated "half or more" of the $18 billion was received through fraudulent means, though he said prosecutors are still working to find the exact number.

"The magnitude of fraud in Minnesota cannot be overstated. It's staggering amounts of money that's been lost," Thompson said.

Feds are also looking into Minnesota foreign pirates scamming the unemployment system.

The Department of Labor announced on Monday it is sending staff to Minnesota to investigate concerns about fraud in the state's Unemployment Insurance Program.

The department's decision to authorize an "on-site specialized UI strike team" in Minnesota makes it the latest of several federal agencies deploying agents to investigate reports of widespread fraud in the state's welfare programs, including those from the Department of Housing and Urban Development and Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

"I am appalled at what we are hearing about potential fraud coming from numerous benefits programs in Minnesota," Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer said in a statement.

"If there has been any related abuse of our UI systems, it will not be tolerated, and I trust our specialized strike team to get to the bottom of this and report their findings directly to me," she continued. "Our mission to protect American workers remains unchanged, and I will not allow malicious actors to destroy the integrity of this trusted program."

posted by Ace at 05:40 PM

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