$18B
Total billing since 2018 across the 14 Medicaid service types Minnesota flagged as high risk. Program billing over eight years, not payments and not a fraud amount. It became the denominator behind the "$9 billion" remark.
Who reported it, and what it covers
reported February 25, 2026
Billed 2018 through 2025
14 Medicaid service types Minnesota flagged as high risk
The total providers billed or submitted in claims to a program, legitimate services included. Billing is what was claimed, not what was paid, and it is not a fraud figure.
What it does not show
Not a fraud amount. It is everything billed in 14 programs over about eight years, legitimate services included.
What the source says
At that news conference, he suggested that fraudsters may have siphoned at least half of the $18 billion that was spent in Minnesota since 2018 in 14 different Medicaid programs that investigators had flagged at a high risk for abuse.
Fact-checking Minnesota mentions in President Donald Trump’s State of the Union speech, MPR News, February 25, 2026. News reporting (characterization source).
Checked against the source October 11, 2026.
Other numbers in circulation
Each of these measures something different. They are not steps toward one total and are never added together.
Cite this figure
Everything needed to cite this number and check it against the original.
$18B: Billed since 2018 in the 14 flagged Medicaid service types
Program billing
14 Medicaid service types Minnesota flagged as high risk. Billed 2018 through 2025.
Fact-checking Minnesota mentions in President Donald Trump’s State of the Union speech (MPR News). News reporting; characterization source.
February 25, 2026
October 11, 2026
$18B: Billed since 2018 in the 14 flagged Medicaid service types. Type: Program billing. Covers: Billed 2018 through 2025. Source (characterization): MPR News, “Fact-checking Minnesota mentions in President Donald Trump’s State of the Union speech,” February 25, 2026, https://www.mprnews.org/episode/2026/02/25/fact-checking-minnesota-mentions-in-president-donald-trumps-state-of-the-union-speech Via MN Public Tools, mnpublictools.com/fraud/figure/flagged-programs-billed-18b (checked October 11, 2026).
Every figure in one file: spreadsheet (CSV) · JSON.
Changes to this record
Program billing is now its own kind of number, and later official reports have their own source label
Corrected what MDE could investigate, how the FBI case opened, and whether the 2026 interviews were sworn
People charged but not convicted are presumed innocent, and amounts labeled alleged come from charging documents, not proven losses. Method and corrections