Monday, August 2, 2021

Live Well, Get Medicaid

 State Auditor Shad White issued the following statement. 

State Auditor Shad White announced the release of the yearly Single Audit of federal funds flowing through Mississippi state agencies this week. While many of the audit findings repeat previous findings from years of audits past, they also provide additional details about spending at some agencies, like the Mississippi Division of Medicaid.

 

Specifically, auditors from the Office of the State Auditor compared the income that Medicaid recipients reported to Medicaid with the income the recipients reported on their state income tax returns.

 

“The use of these returns to figure out if people are lying to obtain benefits started last year in my office,” said Auditor White. “We now have enough data to show there are millions of dollars of potential savings if we can prevent ineligible people from getting on Medicaid. The benefits should only be going to those who deserve to be on the program.”

 

The details of two individuals who own multi-million dollar homes and declared high incomes on their most recent tax returns, but also receive Medicaid benefits, are highlighted in the audit. Medicaid had already identified the individuals as potential fraud cases to investigate.

 

The Division of Medicaid currently does not have the legal authority to obtain state income tax returns to compare to the income claimed by Medicaid applicants when they apply for the program.

 

“Under current law, Medicaid cannot do the analysis we did here,” said White. “I stand ready to work with Medicaid’s leadership to argue to lawmakers that they should have this tool in their toolbox. It could stop ineligible applicants from being put on the program in the first place. We know this tool would be useful because Medicaid’s internal policies state they should ask an applicant for their return, but without the authority to get the return and a requirement to use it, the state is potentially handing out millions to ineligible people.”

 

The audit sampled 180 Medicaid beneficiaries and found that potentially 5% were ineligible due to their high income reported on their tax return. Medicaid represents 49% of the federal funds spent by the state of Mississippi.


“I want to thank the team of auditors who worked this year on the Single Audit,” added White. “With every finding, they are putting their licenses on the line. They do so to make our state better and out of fidelity to the taxpayers.”

 

The full audit report can be found online at the Auditor’s website.

 

 

24 comments:

Anonymous said...

As long as we’re on the government dole, there will always be those that take advantage of it. We may be a “red state,” but we live off the taxpayer dollars from mostly blue states.

It is what it is.

Anonymous said...

“With every finding, they are putting their licenses on the line."

...proving everyday he knows nothing about auditing!!!

Anonymous said...

“With every finding, they are putting their licenses on the line."

Only if they are falsifying the findings, which is your office's job to review the supporting information before releasing a report.

But Shad, you're so cute when you try hard.

Anonymous said...

2:03 PM, you read my mind. This is Hillary Clinton or Tony Fauci-level stuff. The Auditor should be a no-nonsense position. We are constantly fed this jazz everyday.

Anonymous said...

Shad reports 2 rich folks got benefits, that were found internally by medicaid staff, so the GOP has more ammunition to resist expansion.

Anonymous said...

Some taxpayers are getting the child tax credit monthly checks and are not qualified. A friend tried to get this corrected and said that he finally gave up and will take care of it when he files his 2021 tax return.

The feds are sending out money so quickly, they have no idea if it is correct or not.

Anonymous said...

I don't have time to scroll through 370 pages. Someone just name the people highlighted in the report, please.

Anonymous said...

It is a predictive audit! Total bullshit. Audits are suppose to be fact based and not on someone's prediction. If this is how Alfred E. Auditor is going to operate...

Anonymous said...

Does this mean all the philbillies are off the hook?

Anonymous said...

3:11 - it is a comprehensive audit. Which is exactly what the state law requires of the State Auditor's office. There are individual audits conducted on the various agencies, counties, etc which are based on what you refer to as 'facts' - but read the report and maybe you will understand the process used for this specific purpose.

Anonymous said...

Medicaid fraud is rampant. As a doctor I see this daily. I called the office of Medicaid about this one time. They informed me that they were prohibited from questioning the validity of any application

Anonymous said...

Wow, after reading some of the above comments, is seems that some people are worried they may lose their Medicaid benefits.

Anonymous said...

"potentially 5% were ineligible due to their high income reported on their tax return."

I'm encouraged by that finding. I figured it was way higher than 5%, much like 10:36. Perhaps his practice, for whatever reason, happens to be a hot-spot of Medicaid fraud.

Anonymous said...

@10:36

Are you surprised? This state is so corrupt that the "haves" do not want their friends outed for this behavior. No laws will be passed to help stop the fraud. This is just another protection of being "friends of the program".

Anonymous said...

Medicare for all. Problem solved.

Anonymous said...

I am reminded of the guy that was on medicaid and came in for treatment often.............nothing seriously wrong with him. He always drove up in his big Cadillac with the very expensive wheels. always had his Gold watch; his Gold bracelet; and several gold necklaces. He had his cowboy hat with the Gold braid around it. He said he was disabled, but had callouses on his hands from working on cars. I called the medicaid office in Jackson to see if they would take him off their list and was promptly told "Nah Suh, Nah Suh, all we can do is put them on medicaid there is no way we can take someone off of it."

Anonymous said...

Page 169. Does not name names.

Anonymous said...

How about Defense Contractor fraud or farm/agriculture fraud? Oh that’s right they commit the right kind of fraud in GOP circles. Let’s go after those small time social services programs that Democrats love instead. Talk about “tripping over a dollar to pick up a penny!”

Anonymous said...

7:58 - You'd be surprised at the number of 'minority and female' owned defense contracting companies as well as the number of black farmers, most of both vote democrat. Unstick your head from your rectum.

Anonymous said...

8:52, you blaming the issues on black farmers and defense contractors is laughable! Corporate Farms and big defense contractors are the problem but you keep feeling comfortable that this is a little guy problem. BTW, no harsh phases just facts please.

Anonymous said...

@7:58

Small time social service program?

You do realize Medicaid makes up nearly 1/4 the state's budget, right?

Anonymous said...

@1:20 once again if it can’t fit on a bumper sticker you guys have a hard time comprehending the issue.

Medicaid does not make up 1/4 of the Mississippi budget but nice try. Please back up your wild assertions with actual statistics in the future.

“ the federal government pays 84.5 % of the Medicaid budget in Mississippi,”

uh that is 15.5 % of the budget.

Source: apnews.com

Anonymous said...

Cite your math, pal. If Medicaid spending is ~50% of Federal spending in this state, and over 40% of the state's budget is Federal dollars, that's within spitting distance of a quarter of the state's budget.

Your ego gets in the way of admitting even 15% of the state's budget is a BFD.

Anonymous said...

I did site my source if you would actually read my post. Now site your numbers from a source, not from what you read on Chris McDaniels Facebook page!


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