Officials building Minnesota’s paid family and medical leave program set to launch Jan. 1 say they’re confident that built-in fraud prevention measures will prevent widespread abuse of the new benefit.

More than 130,000 people are expected to use the new benefit in its first year at a cost of around $1.6 billion. Around 400 state employees will administer the program.

After several high-profile schemes cost the state hundreds of millions of dollars, some state lawmakers want more scrutiny of fraud controls.

Federal prosecutors have said fraud in Minnesota government programs in recent years could exceed $1 billion, and new cases continue to emerge.

Minnesota’s Department of Employment and Economic Development outlined some of its fraud prevention measures for House members on Wednesday

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