GOP accuses Walz allies of burying $52M Medicaid fraud report before election

Minnesota Republicans say Democrats have kept the full text of a state-ordered Medicaid review out of lawmakers' hands, and they contend the secrecy cost the legislature its chance to respond before voters go to the polls. House Speaker Lisa Demuth, the GOP nominee for governor, told Fox News Digital that fraud has surged under Gov. Tim Walz and that nobody in his administration has been held responsible. She asked what the pages conceal.

The review was done by the firm Optum, which the Walz administration brought in to examine 14 high-risk services in the state's Medicaid program. Its findings point to more than $52 million in improper payments, though the firm noted that such payments are not necessarily fraud, waste or abuse. The Department of Human Services posted a version with extensive blackouts in February, and Republicans have since pressed for the unredacted copy.

Walz, a Democrat, commissioned the work in October 2025 and dropped his re-election bid in January. The legislature is closely split: Democrats hold the Senate 34-33, and the House sits at 67-67.

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