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A new report from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has found that Medicaid agencies allegedly made millions of dollars in payments to deceased enrollees, further heightening somewhat negative public speculation on the healthcare program.
According to the report, the Office of Inspector General (OIG) has carried out 18 audits that have identified Medicaid agencies improperly made nearly $290 million in payments to deceased individuals since 2016. Just over $200 million of those payments occurred between July 2021 to June 2022.
The improper payments were investigated, the report said, after drawing the attention of the U.S. Senate Finance Committee. “Provisions of the recently enacted One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBB Act) may help minimize unallowable Medicaid payments made on behalf of deceased enrollees,” it noted.
The One Big Beautiful Bill was signed into law in July by President Donald Trump. The legislation included the Medicaid program, largely in terms of eligibility requirements.
Medicaid has come under fire a few times this year, most notably due to the Trump administration’s disapproval of how some states have utilized its funding.
As reported by RSBN, a previous audit from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services found that a slate of Democrat-led states had misused over $1 billion in federal Medicaid funds.
These funds were allegedly used to fund the healthcare of illegal immigrants – a violation of federal law. Although there has been some controversy over these findings, the Trump administration has not backed down.
The White House even created a website this fall that included mugshots and information from almost 150 illegal aliens who allegedly received Medicaid benefits, amid the Democrat-led government shutdown.
“Democrats have refused to pass a clean budget bill to end the shutdown unless Republicans concede to their demands for $1.5 trillion in new spending, including restorations to Medicaid expansions that would effectively extend coverage to over 1 million illegal aliens, funneling an additional $200 billion to such programs over the next decade at the expense of U.S. families,” the White House argued.
