$7 million of $12 million in payments to deceased Medicaid clients in Illinois has been recovered, with hope that the remaining $5 million will also be recovered. How can this happen in a day and time when identification and death records are computerized and readily accessible by government agencies? The memo dated Friday, which The Associated Press obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request, says the (Illinois) state auditor compared clients enrolled in the Medicaid database last June with state death records dating back to 1970. Auditors identified overpayments for services to roughly 2,900 people after the date of their deaths. The heads of the departments of Healthcare and Family Services and Human Services, the two state agencies involved with Medicaid payments, outline steps to fix the problem in the memo to their senior staffs. The memo states that more than $7 million has been recovered and the rest is expected to be recouped by years end. Roskam called the overpayments an “outrageous scandal,” blaming big, inefficient systems and a lack of communication between the states and the federal government. If a state discerns that someone shouldn’t be able to get a benefit, state officials don’t always share that information with the federal government, he said. Roskam said that more than $50 billion per year is paid out in false, fraudulent or duplicative claims, calling it “a complete waste of money.” Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) introduced a bill to try to handle this issue, and Roskam introduced parallel legislation in the House. “In a nutshell, we can do better and we’ve gotta do better,” Roskam said.
Posted on: Tue, 22 Apr 2014 02:50:29 +0000
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