IF THE DEAD CAN VOTE, THEY SHOULD ALSO QUALIFY FOR MEDICAID

Minnesota Medicaid Scandal: Taxpayers Charged to House the Dead 

 

by Jenna Curren

 

Law Enforcement Today

Aug 24, 2025  

 

  

 

MINNEAPOLIS, MN- A KARE11 investigation has reportedly uncovered new allegations of Medicaid fraud in Minnesota's Housing Stabilization Services (HSS) program, including taxpayer-funded payments for housing to people who were already dead. 

One example of the alleged fraud reveals that Minneapolis-based Start Today Hennepin (STH), a for-profit housing support company, billed Medicaid for services supposedly provided to Realanda Rowland, a chronically homeless woman, on the day she died and for three consecutive weeks after her death in October 2022.

Video from a Montana funeral service confirms Rowland was buried on October 25, 2022. That same day, records obtained by KARE11 show STH submitted Medicaid claims for helping her "sustain housing." Minnesota's vital records index also confirms that Rowland died two weeks earlier on October 11.

This one case is tied to a larger pattern of alleged fraud tied to STH, which has received more than $8.2 million in payments, according to state data, making it the top biller in Minnesota's HSS program since its inception.

The program was launched in 2020 to help elderly and disabled people in Minnesota experiencing or at risk of homelessness find and maintain housing.

It was initially projected to cost $2.6 million annually, but by 2024, actual costs had ballooned to more than $100 million and were on pace to top $120 million this year before the Minnesota Department of Human Services announced in July its plans to shut the entire program down due to fraud concerns. 

KARE11's investigation discovered that DHS was repeatedly warned about Start today Hennepin's billing practices for more than a year, including that at least three clients had been billed after they had died.

Fern Snedeker, a former case manager at Start Today Hennepin, told KARE11 that pressure to meet the company's billable hours quota and obtain the bonus that came with meeting that quota led to fraud. "I did provide services to folks," Snedeker said, "but because of the billable hours requirement, I felt forced in order to keep my job, to commit Medicaid fraud. Rather than actually serving vulnerable populations, it became a numbers game."

He alleged that service time sheets were often fabricated and hours exaggerated. He also provided KARE11 with records confirming an October 2024 whistleblower report to the Minnesota Attorney General's Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, notifying them about the suspected HSS fraud. It was not the first time the state was warned.

In March 2024, Hennepin Health, the county-run Managed Care Organization, emailed Minnesota DHS, warning of "patterns of behavior and billing that raised our eyebrows," identifying examples of patients who appear to be housed, hospitalized, or incarcerated during billable timeframes.

By July 2024, Hennepin Health formally referred Start Today to the DHS Office of Inspector General for suspected fraud. Internal investigative reports authored by Hennepin Health's Special Investigations Unit cited more than $141,000 in alleged improper billing, tied to falsified or missing documentation, and fabricated service records.

Among the findings that the county labeled as overpayment schemes were Medicaid claims submitted on behalf of three deceased clients. KARE11 confirmed that the list includes Realanda Rowland. 

In addition to the billing issues, officials discovered a possible conflict involving a high-ranking Start Today executive. Hennepin County filed a fiduciary abuse report against Start Today Hennepin's executive director, Marty Laughlin, with DHS Adult Protection.

Hennepin records allege that Laughlin was also the financial guardian for a non-verbal, wheelchair-using woman living in a group home and with her mother. County Health Services personnel flagged that as a potential conflict of interest and possible "fiduciary abuse" after discovering Medicaid had been billed more than $15,000 in HSS services on the woman's behalf by Start Today Hennepin.

Jennifer Porter is Start Today's owner and CEO. Records show that she spoke with investigators in the summer of 2024 and admitted that the times on billing records were made up. According to an internal investigative report, Porter said, "STH is far too busy to make the notes accurate on a per-client basis as they deal with far too many clients each day."

Porter's social media feeds reveal numerous trips to Las Vegas and exotic locales, along with pictures of champagne, caviar, and her Mercedes-Benz.

Hennepin County told KARE11 that they have not received any repayment from Start Today, including for the three dead clients whom the company billed. While no criminal charges have been filed, multiple sources told KARE11 that official investigations into STH remain underway.

In July 2025, federal agents executed search warrants at HSS providers' offices and residences across the city. The raids, which did not include STH, were part of a wide-ranging investigation into what the DOJ described as a "massive scheme" to defraud the Medicaid-funded HSS program.

In June 2025, State Today Hennepin reportedly voluntarily withdrew itself from the HSS program.