Methodology

How the Minnesota Medicaid Transparency Project collects, verifies, estimates, and presents data.

Author: Minnesota Medicaid Transparency Project | Last updated: March 17, 2026

Data Collection

Information is gathered from public reports, official agency materials, legislative documents, audit findings, court records, and other public-facing source material relevant to Medicaid oversight in Minnesota.

• Minnesota Department of Human Services — program data, actuarial reports, compliance documents
• Office of the Legislative Auditor — performance evaluations and audit reports
• U.S. Department of Justice — fraud case press releases and court filings
• Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services — national spending and enrollment data
• HHS Office of Inspector General — enforcement actions and program integrity reports
• Minnesota Attorney General — Medicaid Fraud Control Unit annual reports
• Minnesota Legislature — budget documents, committee materials, fiscal analysis

For the full list of 18 primary sources with direct links, see the Data Sources page.

Data Confidence Levels

Every dataset is labeled with one of three confidence levels:

• Official — directly from published government sources. No estimation involved.
• Estimated — derived from official data with documented estimation methods.
• Starter — initial placeholder estimates pending validation.

Analytical Approach

Sources are reviewed and organized to identify patterns in spending, governance, accountability, fraud prevention, enforcement structure, and system fragmentation.

How County Rates Are Calculated

• Autism rate = autism service clients ÷ children population × 1,000
• PCA rate = PCA clients ÷ total population × 1,000
• Provider density = providers ÷ children population × 10,000
• Rate ratio = county rate ÷ state average rate

Population denominators are estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey.

What "Inferred" Means

Some data points are inferred rather than directly stated in public documents. All inferred data points are labeled as such.

Editorial Process

All claims distinguish between evidence and inference. Estimated figures are labeled. We publish corrections openly. This project is independent, nonpartisan, and built entirely on publicly available data.

Limitations

This site is informational only. It does not provide legal advice, medical advice, or official government findings. This site depends on publicly available materials which may be delayed, incomplete, or revised.