[Free Beacon] An estimated $72 million in Medicaid payments were made to potentially ineligible beneficiaries in Kentucky, according to an audit from the agency's inspector general.The audit found the state agency in Kentucky did not always determine eligibility status for Medicaid benefits in line with federal and state requirements and that the agency did not keep paperwork noting it verified citizenship status.
In order to receive Medicaid benefits, the state must verify citizenship or nationality status and have documentary evidence. The state can conduct this verification process through the Social Security Administration.
The audit found the state determined eligibility status for Medicaid benefits without having such documentation and could not show that they received a citizenship verification response from the Social Security Administration.
"The state agency did not always meet Federal and State requirements when making eligibility determinations because of both human and system errors," the report states. "The state agency did not always perform, or maintain documentation that it had performed, identity-proofing because of both human and system errors related to processes implemented in response to the ACA that affected eligibility determinations for non-newly eligible Medicaid applicants."