Hennepin Health was not the only entity warning DHS of fraud in the HSS program. In August, the non-profit housing advocacy group Hearth Connection included its concerns in a report titled “Community Feedback on Housing Stabilization Services.”
The 25-page report identified multiple quality assurance items, including “reports of predatory activity to enroll individuals without their knowledge increasing,” and a “lack of centralized reporting and response mechanisms.” The non-profit’s suggested solutions? Expanding DHS capacity to address the problems.
The feedback loop wasn’t working. In November, Hennepin Health asked DHS for a direct meeting to discuss billing fraud they’d uncovered at numerous HSS providers. In an email chain setting the meeting for December 12th, Cammack, the DHS OIG manager, wrote, “We all want to avoid housing services becoming the next poster child for government program fraud, waste, and abuse.”
“Well, clearly that didn’t happen,” Rep. Robbins said.
The County’s December meeting with DHS again flagged credible allegations of fraud, including bribes for people to sign up or recruit other people, and “members not receiving any HSS services even though services are being billed.”
As taxpayer dollars continued to flow to questionable HSS providers, Hennepin Health had had enough. Days after they met with DHS, the county began to ban multiple HSS providers – including STH – from billing their clients.
Despite action by the county, which cited “multiple examples of fraud, waste, and abuse,” DHS let STH and the other HSS companies facing county sanctions continue to bill other insurance providers.
“Hennepin Health stopped the payment to that provider, and DHS continued to provide payments,” Rep. Robbins said. “Unconscionable!”
