ST. PAUL — Gov. Tim Walz announced on Wednesday, Oct. 29, that he has ordered a third-party audit of billing for 14 Medicaid services in Minnesota to detect fraud.

The order directs Minnesota's Department of Human Services (DHS) to contract with Optum, the health services and tech company owned by UnitedHealth, which will analyze Medicaid claims and flag potential issues for the DHS to review. The contract is supported by funding passed in the 2025 session, according to a Wednesday news release.

“We cannot effectively deliver programs and services if they don’t have the backing of the public’s trust,” Walz said in the release. "In order to restore that trust we are pumping the brakes on 14 programs that were created to help the most disadvantaged among us, yet have become the target of c

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