Auditor: '100 percent' confident up to $85M misspent on Medicaid

Louisiana Legislative Auditor Daryl Purpera is "100 percent" confident in the accuracy of his audit showing $85 million may have been misspent on Medicaid, but agreed the state followed policy and new technology will remedy many of the issues.

Purpera testified before the Joint Legislative Committee on the Budget Friday days after his audit generated a firestorm of criticism directed at the Department of Health and its Secretary Rebekah Gee.

Democrats questioned whether Purpera's timing of the audit's public release was politically motivated and why such audits were never conducted when Republican Gov. Bobby Jindal was in office rather than Democrat Gov. John Bel Edwards.

But Republicans noted the agency had no disputes with Purpera's findings and any waste should be rooted out and remedied.

Purpera's report said his auditors used Louisiana Workforce Commission data to evaluate a sample of Medicaid recipients from the Medicaid expansion population to determine a large majority in the sample weren't eligible.

"I do believe the department is working to correct these issues," Purpera said. "The new system will absolutely help them do the types of things we';re talking about here."

Gee, whose resignation was called for by Republican U.S. Sen. John Kennedy following the audit, said she "very much appreciated the legislative auditor and his team. What he finds is an opportunity to improve."

Gee hailed the new system that went online Tuesday, while Edwards' Commissioner of Administration Jay Dardenne said the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid officials have already said "they are very pleased with the quality of the system and its results."

Purpera and Department of Health Medicaid director Jen Steele agree the federal government won't seek to recover the money spent on ineligible recipients because the decisions were made in accordance with policy on which the state and feds established.

One woman testified she was enrolled in Medicaid without her knowledge and without ever accessing benefits but was sent a letter from the state determining she repay $5,000.

Steele said the state has rescinded those letters to those who clearly didn't commit fraud.

There were some sharp exchanges during the hearing with Purpera saying he considered questions and comments from Sen. Jay Luneau, D-Alexandria, an attack on he and his auditors.

"With all due respect there's no speculation in this report," Purpera said.

When Democrats noted the misspent money was federal funding, Republican Rep. Blake Miguez of Acadiana bit back.

"My constituents also pay a lot of federal taxes," he said. "This isn't a small error. This is a large error."

Auditors determined, based on the sample taken, that the state may have spent between $61.6 million and $85.5 million for Medicaid recipients who didn't qualify at some point during their Medicaid coverage.

The new system will be able to access six sources of income to determine eligibility and will begin quarterly, rather than annual, income checks for eligibility.

Greg Hilburn covers state politics for the USA TODAY Network of Louisiana. Follow him on Twitter @GregHilburn1