DHS Breaks Law, Audit Shows Widespread Dysfunction

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November 8, 2019

Friends, 

From far too wet to now bitter cold, it has not been a great time weather-wise but it has been especially hard on our farmers. Keep them in your prayers. 

Request for Flood Disaster Declaration 

I joined my colleagues in requesting Governor Walz declare a flood emergency to deal with the extensive flooding causing financial and logistical challenges for Minnesota farmers. The letter also requested the administration’s help in working with the federal government to seek a Secretarial disaster designation through the United States Department of Agriculture, and a Presidential disaster declaration. North Dakota Governor Doug Bergum signed a similar executive order earlier this week.

This fall’s flooding caused by excessive rainfall has created huge problems for almost everyone in Northern Minnesota. Minnesota's farmers have been struggling and we can help them immediately by declaring a flood emergency. I am hoping that these disaster declarations will help to ease financial burdens on individuals and local governments.

An executive order, paired with the federal declarations, would give farmers access to financial assistance as well as assist with emergency road repairs.

Governor Walz responded saying he was considering the declaration and would be reviewing options with this agency staff. Yesterday, the governor indicated a declaration was coming shortly. 

Lower Health Care Costs

The Minnesota Department of Commerce released final rates for the 2020 individual insurance market.

For the third consecutive year, Republican-led reforms have proven to help reduce or hold flat individual market health insurance rates after years of double-digit increases following the implementation of Obamacare in Minnesota. See more info here. 

High School Page Program

The Minnesota House High School Page Program is a great way for high school juniors to learn and get some hands-on experience with the legislative process. The deadline to apply is November 21. Click here for more details.

DHS Breaks Law Contract Law 200 times

The problems at DHS never seem to let up. More news this week following a review of public documents by the Star Tribune as documents show Minnesota state agency broke law on contracts, committing millions of dollars without approval. The Department of Human Services had more than 200 violations of state contract law within the past year alone! From the Star Tribune story: “We broke the law,” DHS Chief Financial Officer Alexandra Kotze wrote in an April e-mail, responding to one internal report that detailed more than $300,000 in violations. “We need to be able to explain internally and to the [Department of Administration] how we will prevent this in the future.”  Taken together, the records suggest a pattern of financial mismanagement that reaches well beyond the handful of high-profile cases involving opioid treatment overpayments to Minnesota Indian bands and that has occurred at multiple divisions and functions across the sprawling agency. “We shouldn’t have 200 of these [violations] sitting here at this point in the year,” Deputy DHS Commissioner Chuck Johnson said in an interview Tuesday. Read the full article straight from the Star Tribune: mnhouse.gop/2WKX2CF

Audit of DHS Tribal Program

Just last week, the non-partisan Legislative Auditor released a special review of the $29 million in improper payments made by DHS to two tribal governments for addiction services.

You can read the full special review here.

The OLA blamed "troubling dysfunction" at the agency for the improper payments, and concluded that "fundamental and deep reforms within DHS are needed." They noted that DHS "did not have legal authority to make the payments; it did not document why, when, and who decided it was appropriate to make the payments; no one at DHS takes responsibility for the decision; and no one at DHS can provide a rationale for the payments. The overpayments continued over several years and did not stop until an outside inquiry brought them to light."

The OLA recommends instituting a "comprehensive system of documented management reviews and approvals" for payments made with Medicaid funds. They also repeatedly noted the failure by the numerous levels of management and middle-management that allowed a low-level employee to "unilaterally institute—without legal authority—a payment policy that sent millions of federal funds to those tribes," and said it was "extremely troubling" that the payment practice continued unnoticed by numerous layers of management for years.

At the end of the day, we need to make sure Minnesota taxpayers are not asked to clean up this mess at DHS. The Department of Human Services has a budget of $18 billion and should be responsible for correcting this error within their own budget.

Please Stay in Touch 

Please continue to stay in touch to share your thoughts or concerns. My phone number is 651-296-4265 or you can email me at rep.matt.grossell@house.mn.

Have a great weekend and God Bless!

Matt

227 State Office Building
100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
Saint Paul, MN 55155
ph: 651.296.4265