Commentary
A Somali-American former investigator: why you’re hearing about fraud in my community
The Minnesota Attorney General’s Office, where I previously worked as a fraud investigator, announced last year its largest ever Medicaid fraud case, charging 18 people with stealing $9.5 million. Not long after, the AG charged three people with stealing nearly $11 million, again in Medicaid funds. In May, eight were charged with defrauding Medicaid of […]
Counterpoint: Private providers are needed for treatment of mental health, substance use
Editor’s note: This is a response to a recent Reformer Tax and Spend commentary that argued privatization of government services has enabled fraud and waste. Read it here. The premise of a recent Reformer commentary decrying the privatization of government services was that due to some bad characters, we need to have “government agencies complete […]
Doctors speak: Inside our meeting with UnitedHealth Group
In June, a delegation of medical professionals, patients, community, and labor leaders met with the chief medical officers of UnitedHealth Group and UnitedHealthcare, and the CEO of OptumRx, to discuss the systemic issue of care delays and denials by UnitedHealthcare and demand change. UnitedHealth Group, which owns UnitedHealthcare and OptumRx, is one of the largest […]
Give nursing home workers a raise
The phrase “staffing crisis” has been thrown around recently to describe the state of Minnesota’s nursing homes. But sometimes what these discussions lose sight of is where this staffing crisis comes from: low pay, poor benefits and disrespect. Since COVID-19 began, I’ve watched many of my most dedicated coworkers leave an industry they love for […]
If you’re an elected Democrat, speak up now
About a year ago, I wrote a column warning Democrats that they were “walking toward a cliff with their eyes closed.” “What happens,” I asked, “if Joe Biden is incapacitated a year or 15 months from now? What then?” Biden isn’t incapacitated, but his fumbling performance during the first presidential debate — and then a flurry […]
Here’s what the French anti-fascist election coalition can teach us
On Sunday, July 7, French voters saved their republic from the political guillotine by decisively rejecting the extremist Rassemblement National, or RN. Before ballots were cast in the second and decisive round of French legislative elections, pundits predicted that the RN would take between 230 and 280 seats of the 577 in the French National […]
Five notes on the debate about antisemitism at the University of Minnesota
Nothing is simple. Everything is complicated. The state Senate’s Judiciary and Public Safety Committee — led by chair Sen. Ron Latz, DFL-St. Louis Park — convened on June 25 in order to spotlight “anti-Israel and anti-Jewish incidents at the University of Minnesota.” These were the words on the Senate’s published meeting schedule. They neatly convey […]
6 strategies to enhance safety for children with autism and disabilities
Children with autism and disabilities often face unique challenges when it comes to safety, particularly due to the risk of elopement. Elopement, or wandering away from safe environments, can occur for various reasons, including executive functioning differences, social skill variations and sensory sensitivities. For non-speaking children, the inability to communicate their need for help further […]
What to the slave is the Fourth of July?
Editor’s note: Below are some excerpts from a speech on the meaning of the Fourth of July delivered by Frederick Douglass in Rochester, New York, July 5, 1852. Fellow-citizens, pardon me, allow me to ask, why am I called upon to speak here to-day? What have I, or those I represent, to do with your […]
The Declaration of Independence
When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the […]
Health care ‘implosion’ threatens Greater Minnesota
My mother dreamed of helicopters falling from the sky. In one crash, my uncle died. In another, her children. Again and again, the low thrum of helicopters tore her world apart. These fitful dreams remain mom’s only memories from the month after she suffered a life-threatening stroke on Nov. 19, 2022. That night, just before […]
Digital Fair Repair Act is important to farmers but not enough
Beginning July 1, Minnesotans will gain new options for fixing their smartphones, laptops and even home appliances. This is all thanks to the Digital Fair Repair Act, which is the most comprehensive right to repair law in the nation and was passed by the Minnesota Legislature last year. When the new law goes into effect […]