Auditor: Ohio Medicaid has unrealized cost-savings

State Auditor Mary Taylor said yesterday that Ohio’s Medicaid program has left more than $300 million in potential cost savings unrealized from a 2006 performance audit (Source: “Medicaid gets a scolding,” Columbus Dispatch, Dec. 19, 2008).

In an update of the audit that was performed by her predecessor Betty Montgomery, Taylor said the $13 billion program has adopted just 15 of 109 suggested cost-cutting improvements.

That claim was disputed by Medicaid Director John Corlett, who said the program actually has implemented 74 of the recommendations. In addition, he said Medicaid has accumulated $1.4 billion in "avoided costs" because of changes in commercial and Medicaid billing. The agency also received $180 million more in revenue from third parties and implemented $159 million in cost-containment initiatives, he said.

Nevertheless, Taylor said focusing on several key areas could result in dramatic improvements and savings: developing a "long-term vision" for the program ($156.5 million), increasing use of generic instead of brand-name prescription drugs ($128 million), and fully implementing use of electronic prescription-writing ($60 million a year).