Medicaid Audit Confirms Bachmann/Nienow Effort to Protect Vulnerable Minnesotans

Statement

Congresswoman Michele Bachmann (MN-06) released the following statement today in response to a preliminary audit of Minnesota's Medicaid programs conducted by The Segal Company. The audit revealed that Minnesota taxpayers have overpaid roughly $300 million, and likely much more, over the last eight years to the health plans who administer Medicaid.

During testimony before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee in April of 2012, Bachmann voiced her concerns about the Medicaid rate setting process in Minnesota and the lack of verifiable data from the administrators.

"I care about making sure the most vulnerable people in Minnesota receive the medical care they need. When Medicaid money is lost it hurts the very people who need these benefits the most. The findings in this preliminary audit confirm my concerns and further underscore the need for taxpayers to receive an itemized list to justify how their money is being spent so we can ensure it is helping the poor and vulnerable," said Bachmann. "A full audit of Minnesota's Medicaid programs is the only way to get to the bottom of this and bring transparency and accountability back to the system. We simply cannot allow taxpayer dollars to flow without proper record keeping ever again. I commend Senator Nienow for his leadership on this issue and agree with him that overpayments to the administrators should be returned to the people of Minnesota."

Bachmann introduced The Medicaid Integrity Act of 2013 which calls for independent, third-party financial and performance audits every other year of the health plans who administer Medicaid.

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