HHS report finds Medicaid paid over $200 million in incorrect payments for deceased recipients

A Department of Health and Human Services Office of the Inspector General report released Tuesday found that Medicaid improperly paid over $200 million to health care providers between 2021 and 2022 for patients who had already died. The internal watchdog said its audit found that Medicaid programs paid $207 million to managed care organizations on behalf of deceased enrollees between July 2021 to July 2022. The proper death dates of the enrollees were recorded in the Social Security Administration’s Death Master File. 
The OIG noted that some of the Medicaid programs have already begun recovering the overpayments, even before the office brought the errors to their attention, and urged the federal government to share more information with states to help recover the rest.
The office also highlighted that provisions of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which was passed earlier this year, may help minimize unallowable Medicaid payments in the future, including a provision that requires states to audit their Medicaid beneficiary lists to eliminate deceased recipients. 
The report comes after Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins said last month that SNAP benefit payments have been going to deceased people as well. One way she plans to fix the issue is by making all recipients reapply for benefits.
Misty Severi is a news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.

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