DHS integrity bill to combat Medicaid fraud hits snag in committee

ST. PAUL, Minn. (FOX 9) - A bipartisan bill to help root out fraud in Medicaid services hit a partisan snag Thursday morning.

DHS integrity bill

The backstory:

A big integrity bill is coming together in the House Human Services Committee. It includes things like extra compliance training in high-risk programs, and prepayment review for managed care plans.

It was also going to include a little more than a million dollars for the state attorney general’s office to boost its Medicaid fraud unit. 

For every dollar the state uses on that unit, the federal government will send $3.

House Republicans change vote 

Why you should care:

But some House Republicans changed their vote on the bill.

They said voters don’t want them to give any more money to the attorney general. They suggested the office could use money it claws back from fraudsters as a funding source.

The other side:

But the DFL author says that wouldn’t work, partly because the feds won’t match one-time funding and partly because the state doesn’t get first dibs on money they get back.

"If people steal that money, and the Medicaid fraud control unit recovers that money the MCO is gonna say, ‘Hey, that was the money that was supposed to go to me to deliver those services. You can't take that money away from me and use it to pay staff salaries,’" DFL Rep. Matt Norris of Blaine said.

Expanding the fraud unit is a DFL priority, according to leaders.

What's next:

So the expansion could still move through the Senate, and end up in negotiations near the end of this session next month.