Minnesota Human Services is Recruiting State Employees to Combat Fraud Through Site Checks

(Photo by Alyssa Chen/Minnesota Reformer)

(Minnesota Reformer) – The Minnesota Department of Human Services said that it’s recruiting 168 people from the state government’s 40,000 employees to help the agency conduct unannounced site checks of Medicaid providers in order to combat fraud.

The site checks are part of a new effort by the state to “revalidate” all 5,800 providers of 13 Medicaid services deemed high-risk for fraud, waste and abuse by DHS. Revalidation involves reviewing provider documents and owners’ background checks, visiting providers in person, and conducting screening reviews before and after in-person visits.

DHS Deputy Commissioner John Connolly called the effort “unprecedented” in a press briefing. The state normally revalidates providers every 3 to 5 years, he said.

“We’ve never done anything on this scale before with provider revalidations,” Connolly said. Staff training has started, and unannounced site visits will begin soon after, he said.