STATE

Audit: Ohio made improper Medicaid payments on behalf of prisoners, dead people of more than $118 million

Titus Wu
The Columbus Dispatch
The Ohio Department of Medicaid failed to recoup more than $118.5 million in erroneous duplicate payments or improperly paid for the managed care of prison inmates and deceased residents over three years.

In a report released Thursday, Ohio Auditor Keith Faber said the state's Medicaid department wasted $118 million through duplicate or improperly paid payments from 2017 through 2020. 

Of that amount, $101 million were paid on behalf of ineligible prisoners, $3.4 million on behalf of dead people and $14.5 million were duplicative payments.

"While $118.5 million might be a drop in the bucket for the Department of Medicaid, for Ohioans that is a lot of money – taxpayer money – that needs to be accounted for,” Faber said in a news release. “That’s enough money to cover 1.8 million doctor’s office visits, 2.4 million prenatal appointments for expecting moms, 1.6 million mammograms, 1.3 million pairs of prescription glasses, 148,000 sets of dentures, 1.3 million drug addiction counseling sessions or 1.3 million hours of in-home nursing care." 

Medicaid makes up more than a third of Ohio's budget

The Medicaid department provides health insurance paid by state and federal governments to around 3 million low-income and/or disabled Ohioans. Paying for it is usually the largest expenditure of state government, making up more than a third of the state's budget.

The auditor's office also said there could be an additional $84 million in erroneous payments, though that needs extra confirmation. 

The report recommended that Ohio Medicaid recoup these payments, re-evaluate how it identifies duplicative or ineligible payments, and strengthen checks and controls over the process.

The audit is not the only time the Medicaid department has been under scrutiny for improper payments. 

The federal government has conducted multiple audits of Ohio's program over the past years. A 2018 report revealed the department paid $90 million on behalf of dead individuals, while another released last year found Ohio paid $5.9 million for out-of-state residents.   

In response to Faber's audit, the department said it has "undertaken extraordinary efforts" to improve the system since Medicaid Director Maureen Corcoran took the reins in 2019. It blamed many of the issues on "defects or design issues" that her department had inherited from previous administrations.

The department continues to work on improvements, it said.         

The story was clarified to say payments were made on behalf of, not to, individuals.

Titus Wu is a reporter for the USA TODAY Network Ohio Bureau, which serves the Columbus Dispatch, Cincinnati Enquirer, Akron Beacon Journal and 18 other affiliated news organizations across Ohio.

Get more political analysis by listening to the Ohio Politics Explained podcast