Today Governor Tim Walz announced Health and Human Services Commissioner Jodi Harpstead is leaving his administration. While given a glowing review from the Governor, the departure is not without dark clouds as recent fraud reports highlight massive schemes to abuse taxpayers’ dollars flew under the radar.

“This is a prime opportunity for Governor Walz to demonstrate he will take fraud seriously,” Senate Republican Leader Mark Johnson (East Grand Forks) said. “A new commissioner must create a culture of accountability, support investigatory activity, and make proper use of taxpayer dollars. They must hold grant recipients, state employees, and themselves to the highest standards of transparency and accountability.”

“This agency is responsible for billions of dollars meant to help people in need,” Senator Jim Abeler (R-Anoka) said. “The new leadership should prioritize delivering effective services to those in need while holding the agency to the highest standards of integrity.”

Just last week, charges were filed for $7.3 million in Medicaid fraud for a PCA being run by a convicted felon, with a partner running the billing services while on work release from a jail sentence. In December, the FBI raided two autism centers that received human services grants to help students with autism needs, and reports indicate more than two dozen autism centers are being investigated. The nonpartisan Office of the Legislative Auditor also dinged the agency for failing to recover $40 million in Medicaid overpayments.

This fall, reporting on a multi-year investigation into falsified medical transportation and services records showed more than $10 million was lost to fraudsters through several elaborate schemes. And investigative reporting from media showed addiction and recovery services centers took advantage of lax oversight from Human Services to bilk the taxpayers of millions of dollars. Even after complaints were investigated, the money still flowed.

Harpstead’s appointment in 2019 was in response to previous failures to stop fraud. At that point, the agency had already wrongly overpaid Minnesota’s tribal nations $25 million dollars and a whistleblower report led to the discovery of millions of dollars of fraud in the state’s Child Care Assistance Program intended to help working parents afford child care. The agency also struggled with software failures and data breaches under Governor Mark Dayton.

The Walz administration has seen several high-profile departures after department failures:

• Human Services Commissioner Jodi Harpstead’s predecessor, Tony Lourey, resigned over fraud reports and complaints of mismanagement.
• Education Commissioner Heather Mueller departed after massive fraud occurred under her watch during the Feeding our Future scandal.
• Interim Director Charlene Briner just left the newly formed Office of Cannabis Management (OCM) after the State’s marijuana licensing lottery was paused by judicial order in November.
• The original Director for OCM, Erin DuPree, abruptly resigned one day after her appointment when media reports found her THC business violated state law.