Lawmakers press DHS to un-redact Optum report on Medicaid prepayment review; committee advances bill with data safeguards
Get AI-powered insights, summaries, and transcripts
Subscribe
Summary
Members of the House Judiciary Finance and Civil Law Committee criticized heavy redactions in a Department of Human Services Optum prepayment-review report, adopted amendments limiting public dissemination of sensitive material and barring Optum from selling private data, and passed the amended bill (House File 3378) to the general register.
The committee on Tuesday moved a bill to make more of a Department of Human Services (DHS) Optum prepayment-review report available to legislators after members criticized extensive redactions that hide alleged vulnerabilities and policy recommendations.
Representative Schumacher, sponsor of House File 3378, said a redacted DHS report hampers the Legislature’s ability to draft policy this session. Matt Ealing of Minnesotans for Open Government argued many of the redactions rely too broadly on Minn. Stat. § 13.37 (data-practices exemptions for security or trade secrets) and that conclusions and policy recommendations are not trade secrets. “There’s a lot more public data that should be produced out of this report,” Ealing said.
DHS witness Christy Grama said Optum was chosen because it was a CMS‑approved vendor who could meet urgent implementation timelines; DHS counsel reviewed redactions and DHS does not oppose transparency but must avoid providing a “road map” that could enable further fraud. Grama said the CES (claims editing system) report contained trade‑secret claims identified by Optum’s counsel and the vulnerability assessment was redacted after DHS counsel review.
Committee members pressed DHS about the redaction process and the absence of DHS attorneys and Optum representatives from the hearing. Concerns raised included (1) whether the data‑practices three‑part trade‑secret test was applied section-by‑section, (2) possible conflicts of interest in vendor selection (a MNIT staffer formerly employed by Optum was noted by a member), and (3) the utility of a report that is almost entirely blacked out.
Representative Curran moved and the committee adopted amendment A5 to limit public distribution of sensitive material while making the report available to legislators for oversight and policy work. The committee also adopted amendment A4 to explicitly prevent Optum from selling, disseminating or otherwise publicizing private data obtained under the DHS contract. After debate and questions, the committee voted to pass the amended House File 3378 to the general register.