This is the second article from the state and region section of the Star Tribune that I have forwarded to the National Women’s History Museum. Thanks, Star Tribune, for honoring women’s history.
Lisa Wersal, Vadnais Heights
Thursday’s article titled “State halts payments over fraud concerns” indicates that Minnesota will be halting various Medicaid program payments and has hired Optum to perform an analysis. Does Gov. Tim Walz not realize that Optum is a subsidiary of none other than UnitedHealth Group? This is the same UnitedHealth Group that the Star Tribune reported in July lost a legal bid to rejoin Minnesota’s Medicaid program after the DFL legislature barred for-profit insurers such as UnitedHealth from winning state contracts to manage care for Medicaid beneficiaries beginning in 2025.
So on the one hand, the DFL Legislature is banning UnitedHealth from participating in the Medicaid market, and on the other hand, the DFL executive branch is writing a fat check to UnitedHealth to audit Medicaid programs. Now I’m no fan of the GOP, but I’m starting to suspect things like this might be why MAGA exists.