Ohio, other states consider tougher stance on Medicaid fraud

Faced with growing Medicaid enrollment and tight budgets, lawmakers in several states are taking steps to ensure that people receiving welfare benefits are eligible for them (Source: “What Happens When States Go Hunting for Welfare Fraud,” Stateline, May 24, 2017).

Mississippi enacted a law in April that will require the state to hire a private contractor to create a new computer system to review and more frequently check the eligibility of people participating in Medicaid and the federal food stamps program, formally called the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. Similar bills are being considered in Ohio and Oklahoma, and Missouri and Wyoming enacted similar laws last year.

The recent proposals follow model legislation drafted by the Foundation for Government Accountability, a Florida-based nonprofit that favors free-market principles. The point, said Jonathan Ingram, the foundation’s vice president of research, is to preserve finite government resources by ensuring that only eligible people are receiving benefits.