Government Waste

Minnesota's Fraud Scandal Isn't an Immigration Problem. It's a Spending Problem.

Health care fraud is an all-too-common feature of the U.S. health care system, not only in Minnesota.

Peter Suderman | From the April 2026 issue

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(Illustration: Midjourney/Digitalstormcinema/Dreamstime)

In January, Minnesota governor and recent Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Walz announced that he would not be seeking reelection. Walz's surprise announcement came in the wake of escalating attention on health care fraud in the state, much of it tied to Somali immigrants. The Trump administration had targeted Walz rhetorically and threatened to cut off health care funding for the state. "I don't think any governor in history has had to fight a war against the federal government every single day," Walz said.

Perhaps Walz should have spent more time fighting the war on fraud and misuse of federal funds. The prior month, Assistant U.S. Attorney Joe Thompson revealed in an indictment that since 2018, at least half of the roughly $18 billion in federal funds meant to support a collection of state-run programs had been used fraudulently. "The magnitude cannot be overstated," Thompson said in December. "What we see in Minnesota is not a handful of bad actors committing crimes. It's staggering, industrial-scale fraud."........

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