“Our Working Families Tax Cuts law fights fraud. We strengthened eligibility requirements for Medicaid. We ensured illegal immigrants do not receive taxpayer-funded healthcare. We put in place work requirements for Medicaid and for Food Stamps. These policies protect taxpayers and increase accountability.”

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), Senate Majority Whip, today spoke on the Senate Floor about Minnesota’s Medicaid fraud schemes. The fraud in Minnesota stands to cost taxpayers upwards of $9 billion.  

Senator Barrasso also shared how the Working Families Tax Cuts Act cracks down on fraud and protects taxpayer dollars.

Sen. Barrasso’s remarks as prepared:

“When the government wastes even a dollar of your taxpayer money, you have a right to know what happened. When emboldened criminals steal money intended to help single moms and children in poverty, you have a right to be angry. Americans are infuriated by the staggering fraud unfolding today in the state of Minnesota. The past few weeks have shown how deep the corruption has turned out to be.

“Investigators have uncovered fraud schemes across 14 Minnesota Medicaid programs. Joe Thompson – U.S. Attorney in Minnesota – has spent his career prosecuting fraud. Based on his extensive investigation, he believes criminals have stolen at least $9 billion from those Minnesota Medicaid programs. That is half of the total amount of money Minnesota spends for Medicaid programs in that state. Today, the fraud is so prevalent that Thompson says the state has ‘developed a fraud tourism industry.’ Can you imagine such a thing? A ‘Fraud Tourism Industry.’

“Here’s how these schemes work. Fraudsters set up fake businesses and nonprofit organizations. The criminals claim to provide services such as housing, food, and healthcare assistance. Then, they bill Medicaid for services they never provided. They enroll children in programs they don’t need.

“In 2021, taxpayers paid $4.6 million for something called Minnesota’s Integrated Community Support Medicaid Program. Three years later – due to criminal fraud – spending for that program ballooned to more than $170 million. That’s 37 times as much in just three years.

“Taxpayers similarly paid $21 million in 2021 for something called Minnesota’s Housing Stabilization Services. In the first six months of 2025 – due to criminal fraud – taxpayers paid nearly triple that amount.

“A Medicaid program claiming to help Minnesota children with autism cost $6 million in 2018. By 2023 – due to criminal fraud – it cost taxpayers over $192 million.

“Daycare fraud is one of these brazen schemes. Last month, an independent journalist visited 10 state-funded daycare sites in the Twin Cities of Minnesota. He found no children at the daycare centers. Middle of the day. No children there. One year ago, a local reporter visited several of the same sites. This reporter found no children at the daycare centers. These are supposed daycare centers. They’re getting paid to take care of children.

“Here is one of those sites. It is the now-infamous ‘Quality LEAR-ING Center.’

LEAR-ING. Instead of Learning. Misspelling the name of the daycare center. That’s an obvious red flag for fraud. There were 95 violations for that site alone

between 2019 and 2023. Those violations include ‘no records for 16 children.’

Yet in Minnesota, taxpayer dollars continued to flow.

“These aren’t one-off abuses. We now know that the fraud scheme used in the state’s childcare program has been used to defraud other social service programs. The New York Times says the fraud is ‘staggering in its scale and brazenness.’

“The Department of Justice has charged 98 defendants in Minnesota Medicaid fraud-related cases. So far, 64 of these defendants have been convicted. Last month, one defendant was found guilty of stealing $14 million from Medicaid. She also stole nearly half a million dollars from a child nutrition program. That stolen money was supposed to be used to provide 200,000 meals for hungry children. Instead, the defendant sent hundreds of thousands of dollars overseas. She bought real estate in Kenya in Africa.

“This organized, systemic theft has gone on for years under the state’s Democrat leadership. It exploded under Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz. The Democrats have permitted schemes stacked upon schemes to drain money meant for those in need. Republicans will not allow this massive theft of taxpayer dollars to be ignored.

“We are taking a comprehensive approach to root out fraud in Minnesota and across the country. Our Working Families Tax Cuts law fights fraud. We strengthened eligibility requirements for Medicaid. We ensured illegal immigrants do not receive taxpayer-funded healthcare. We put in place work requirements for Medicaid and for Food Stamps. These policies protect taxpayers and increase accountability.

“Additionally, Republicans are conducting aggressive congressional oversight. On Friday, the entire Senate Republican Conference demanded Governor Walz explain his actions. We asked nine detailed questions. Questions such as why Minnesota failed to adopt key fraud prevention measures – measures the Department of Health and Human Services recommended to Minnesota in May. Governor Walz knew about this widespread fraud. He refused to do anything to stop it.

“Senate Republicans are ready to give the Trump administration the manpower it needs to tackle fraud in Minnesota and wherever else it appears. The Trump administration has asked the Senate to confirm a new Assistant Attorney General position – a position that will focus on fraud. The United States Senate will get that person in place and on the job quickly.

“The Trump administration has taken other bold and deceive actions to stop fraud. To further strengthen enforcement efforts, the Department of Justice has doubled the number of attorneys handling these fraud cases. The Treasury Department is cracking down on businesses in Minnesota for alleged money laundering. The Department of Health and Human Services under President Trump froze federal funding for fraud-prone programs in Minnesota.

“If Senate Democrats cared about stopping fraud, why are they preparing to vote today to loosen eligibility and income verifications for Obamacare subsidies? That is what the Congressional Review Act resolution from Democrat Senator Mark Warner of Virginia does. Eliminating these vital protections invites more fraud. It means subsidies go to individuals who don’t qualify for them. Congress should not make it easier to defraud American taxpayers. That is the wrong direction to take after the biggest fraud scandal in Minnesota history.

“Protecting taxpayer dollars should not be a partisan issue. The fraud scandal in Minnesota should be a wake-up call for every American taxpayer. Our federal government spends nearly $1.5 trillion each and every year to feed, house, treat, and care for vulnerable families and children. Medicaid, food stamps, and other social programs are often called a lifeline. Years of waste, fraud, abuse, and corruption have pushed those who truly need help to the back of the line.

“Republicans will not stop until the depth of this fraud is uncovered and prosecuted. Republicans are committed to preventing it from happening again.”

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