{"id":1435956,"date":"2022-04-13T16:30:37","date_gmt":"2022-04-13T20:30:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1435956"},"modified":"2022-04-13T16:30:42","modified_gmt":"2022-04-13T20:30:42","slug":"exclusive-republicans-from-both-chambers-demand-answers-over-improper-medicaid-payments","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/exclusive-republicans-from-both-chambers-demand-answers-over-improper-medicaid-payments\/","title":{"rendered":"EXCLUSIVE: Republicans From Both Chambers Demand Answers Over Improper Medicaid Payments"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">22<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fexclusive-republicans-from-both-chambers-demand-answers-over-improper-medicaid-payments%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1435956&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><\/div>\n<p>A group of Republicans from both houses of Congress sent a letter Wednesday to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) demanding the organization detail its plan to address improper payments in Medicaid, according to a copy of the letter exclusively obtained by the Daily Caller.<\/p>\n<p>Spearheaded by Republican Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson and Kentucky Rep. James Comer, the letter is joined by 18 other Republicans demanding insight into how CMS is handling \u201cimproper payments\u201d that have reportedly increased more than 400%.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSince the passage of Obamacare, Medicaid\u2019s improper payments have increased 400%, and the rate of improper payments is more than three times the government-wide rate. Unfortunately, there appears to be very little interest on the part of Democrats in Congress to investigate and conduct oversight of this significant financial mismanagement,\u201d Johnson said in an exclusive statement to the Daily Caller. \u201cThis is the problem that must be addressed to ensure the financial stability of Medicaid so it is available for those who truly need it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The letter claims the improper payments in the Medicaid program could total \u201cmore than $100 billion annually.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis alarming amount threatens the viability of a program designed for Americans in need,\u201d the letter reads. \u201cWe write seeking additional information on what safeguards CMS has in place to address improper payments in the Medicaid program.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Medicaid made $57.36 billion in improper payments during fiscal year 2019 and $86.49 billion in fiscal year 2020, <a href=\"https:\/\/dailycaller.com\/2021\/07\/27\/medicare-medicaid-government-waste-spending-lawsuit\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">according to CMS data<\/a>. The improper payment rates were 14.9% and 21.36% respectively. CMS is required by the Social Security Act to recover improper payments exceeding three percent.<\/p>\n<p><a title=\"View (DAILY CALLER OBTAINED) -- Sen Ron Johnson and Rep James Comer Letter to CMS Re Medicaid Improper Payments on Scribd\" href=\"https:\/\/www.scribd.com\/document\/569770481\/DAILY-CALLER-OBTAINED-Sen-Ron-Johnson-and-Rep-James-Comer-Letter-to-CMS-Re-Medicaid-Improper-Payments#from_embed\">(DAILY CALLER OBTAINED) \u2014 \u2026<\/a> by <a title=\"View Henry Rodgers&#039;s profile on Scribd\" href=\"https:\/\/www.scribd.com\/user\/527927298\/Henry-Rodgers#from_embed\">Henry Rodgers<\/a><\/p>\n<p>By fiscal year 2020, \u201cmore than one out of every five Medicaid payments were improper,\u201d the letter states.<\/p>\n<p>The letter says a majority of the improper payments were a result of \u201celigibility errors, administrative oversights, or outright fraud.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThese staggering rates of improper payments in Medicaid programs are inexcusable,\u201d the letter reads. \u201cAs CMS data underscores, these improper payments threaten the integrity of the Medicaid program.\u201d <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/dailycaller.com\/2022\/03\/29\/covid-19-coronavirus-relief-fraud-department-justice-lester-holt\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">(RELATED: Inspector General: COVID Relief Programs Were \u2018Invitation\u2019 To Fraudsters)<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The letter calls on the CMS to provide data on how improper payments rates and eligibility are determined, what protocols are in place in each state to validate the improper payment rate, a list of CMS\u2019s efforts \u201cto recover the hundreds of billions of dollars in improper Medicaid payments\u201d and the \u201cestimated improper payment rate\u201d as a result of Medicaid\u2019s COVID-19 related expansion.<\/p>\n<p>CMS uses the Comprehensive Error Rate Testing <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cms.gov\/newsroom\/fact-sheets\/improper-payments-fact-sheet\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">program<\/a> to determine the improper payment rate, according to CMS. The program \u201ccites improper payments in accordance with payment policies on any claim\u201d that was incorrectly paid or paid in an incorrect amount. CMS claims most improper payments are not indicative of fraud but rather are \u201ccaused by improper or inadequate documentation.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>During the pandemic, CMS \u201cexercised its enforcement discretion and implemented a temporary policy to suspend all improper payment related to engagement\/communications and data requests to providers and state agencies from CMS and its contractors between March 2020 and August 2020,\u201d according to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.medicaid.gov\/state-overviews\/scorecard\/what-rate-of-improper-payments-medicaid-chip\/index.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Medicaid.gov<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>CMS failed to thoroughly respond to a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.toomey.senate.gov\/newsroom\/press-releases\/toomey-grassley-slam-27-years-of-improper-medicaid-payments\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">March 2019 letter<\/a> from Republican Pennsylvania Sen. Pat Toomey and Republican Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley, along with a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ronjohnson.senate.gov\/2020\/12\/johnson-senators-send-letter-to-cms-raising-alarm-over-growing-medicaid-improper-payments#_ftn2\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">December 2020 letter<\/a> spearheaded by Johnson regarding the same issues.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A group of Republicans from both houses of Congress sent a letter Wednesday to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) demanding the organization detail its plan to address<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":74,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1435956","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1435956","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/74"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1435956"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1435956\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1435956"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1435956"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1435956"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}