Ohio Auditor Keith Faber released a report on Thursday, detailing that the state dished out approximately $118 million in unapproved payments to prisoners in the state and deceased individuals.
Over a three-year period, $101 million was sent to incarcerated individuals in Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction facilities.
Additionally, from 2017 to 2020, $3.4 million in payments were appropriated to residents of the state that were deceased and roughly $14.5 million in duplicate 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,” said Auditor Faber. “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 – the kinds of services eligible residents need and Medicaid provides.”
The office also discovered “about $84 million in other potentially erroneous capitation payments that would require additional confirmation and potential recoupment.”
According to the release from the Auditor’s office, the Ohio Department of Medicaid blamed the prior administration for the eligibility system and is working to cut improper payments.
However, Faber contended additional measures are needed to save taxpayer funds.
“While ODM is working to address many of the issues auditors identified in this report, there is much more to be done across state agencies to help ensure that each department works together to close loopholes in Ohio’s systems that cost taxpayers millions of dollars each year,” Auditor Faber said.
Late last year, a separate report from Faber detailed continued government waste. The analysis showed a potential $3.8 billion in unemployment overpayments, as reported by The Ohio Star.
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Cooper Moran is a reporter for The Star News Network. Follow Cooper on Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
