In late July, a group of federal lawmakers wrote to Gov. Tim Walz to inquire about the state’s handling of alleged fraud within the Department of Human Services (DHS).
KTTC has obtained a copy of the state’s response to Minnesota’s four Republican House members, including First District Congressman Brad Finstad.
It did not come from the governor, but rather the temporary commissioner of DHS—Shireen Gandhi.
Dated Aug. 12, Gandhi started her letter acknowledging the Congress member’s information request to Gov. Walz on the state’s Housing Stabilization Services (HSS) program. HSS is a Medicaid-funded program designed to help seniors and people with disabilities find house.
According to federal records, multiple companies billed Medicaid millions of dollars for housing services that numerous clients said they never received. The documents show more than $300 million have been paid out since the program started in 2020. The state’s original estimates put the annual program payouts at under $3 million.
As KTTC previously reported, on Aug. 1, the state sent a letter to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to ask for urgent approval to end the HSS program.
Gandhi mentioned the termination request in her letter to Finstad and Minnesota’s other Republican House members, “We ask CMS to help us expedite the process as we work to redesign and potentially relaunch the benefit with a strengthened framework for oversight and enforcement.”
The governor’s office provided no additional comment about the letter penned by the acting leader of the state’s DHS.
During a sit-down interview last week with KTTC, Finstad was critical of Walz’s handling of this situation.
“People are asking what’s going on, where is this money going? Who has been a part of this pyramid scheme of federal and state dollars being funneled away to fraud and abuse? We we need to seek, we’re seeking answers,” Finstad said.
KTTC also sat down with Minnesota Congresswoman Angie Craig last week, and asked if the DFLer supported GOP calls for a federal investigation into this matter.
“My sense is that, you know, the governor and that the executive branch here in Minnesota wants to do whatever is required to make sure that we put up more barriers to those who would do harm with our state and federal dollars. And so I certainly would support cracking down on that at the federal level,” said Craig.
According to Minnesota DHS, 115 housing providers have had payments suspended due the agency calls credible allegations of fraud.
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