A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
The Trump administration is putting a temporary hold on some Medicaid funding to Minnesota. It says it's concerned about fraud. Reporter Matt Sepic of Minnesota Public Radio has been covering fraud investigations there for the past four years. He joins us now from Minneapolis with the facts. So, Matt, what types of Medicaid programs is the administration targeting?
MATT SEPIC, BYLINE: They don't appear to be focusing on direct medical care, such as physician visits, rather personal care, as well as home and community-based services. That includes things like intensive residential treatment, night supervision services and nonemergency medical transportation. Those are the same programs in which the state halted new enrollments last month at the direction of the federal government. Vice President JD Vance announced the latest cuts yesterday alongside Dr. Mehmet Oz, the administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
The Trump administration says it's withholding just over a quarter billion dollars in reimbursements this month. Oz pointed to a Minnesota Medicaid program meant to provide care to children with autism. Last year, federal prosecutors charged two people with setting up phony treatment centers and enrolling kids regardless of their symptoms.
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MEHMET OZ: They then bill Medicaid - this has already happened - millions of dollars for services that were never rendered, never delivered by a qualified staff member. These schemes disproportionately involve immigrant communities.
SEPIC: One of the defendants in the autism case pleaded guilty in December to stealing $14 million. The other is expected to plead guilty on Monday. More than a dozen other people are charged with ripping off a Medicaid housing program. Governor Tim Walz, a Democrat, shut that down last year because of widespread fraud. Many of the defendants are from Minnesota's Somali American community, which Trump disparaged in his State of the Union address on Tuesday.
MARTÍNEZ: You mentioned Governor Walz. What's he saying now?
SEPIC: On social media yesterday, Walz called it a, quote, "campaign of retribution" by President Donald Trump that'll be devastating for people across Minnesota. He notes that Trump has pardoned numerous people convicted of fraud and that his Justice Department has driven out experienced fraud prosecutors.
MARTÍNEZ: Why did those federal prosecutors quit?
SEPIC: Well, more than a dozen staffers at the Minnesota U.S. attorney's office resigned after immigration agents killed Renée Macklin Good and Alex Pretti last month. They quit in protest after Justice Department leaders pressured them to investigate Good's widow and because the FBI has refused to include state police in the shooting investigations. That's according to a DOJ source who requested anonymity because they're not authorized to speak to the media. The people who resigned include everyone on the team that had been prosecuting fraud.
MARTÍNEZ: Matt, what does the federal government want from Minnesota leaders before it releases this Medicaid money?
SEPIC: Well, Oz says the state must develop a comprehensive plan to tackle fraud and Walz has 60 days to respond. It's important to point out, A, that fighting fraud is a key priority in the state legislature for lawmakers from both parties. Legislators are trying to hash out the details of a proposed inspector general's office that would oversee anti-fraud efforts in Minnesota. State Attorney General Keith Ellison says he is also asking lawmakers for money to hire more fraud prosecutors.
MARTÍNEZ: All right, that's Minnesota Public Radio's Matt Sepic. Matt, thank you very much for your reporting on this.
SEPIC: You're welcome.
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