U.S. Sen. Rick Scott questioned policy experts on Tuesday during a Senate Budget Committee hearing focused on waste, fraud, and abuse within the Medicaid program.
The hearing featured testimony from Dr. Brian Blase, president of the Paragon Health Institute, and Jonathan Ingram, vice president of policy and research at the Foundation for Government Accountability. Discussion focused on the mechanisms individuals and states use to exploit federal funding channels and loopholes in the healthcare financing system.
During the proceedings, Scott addressed the shift in program focus away from its original target populations.
“When you think about it, the federal government’s goal was to take care of, especially the pregnant women, kids, the disabled,” Scott said. “The states have lost focus because there’s so much money and the providers have lost— because there’s so much money here for the able-bodied adults.”
Blase testified regarding state financing arrangements, specifically pointing to provider tax structures and local healthcare facilities transferring funds to state authorities. According to Blase, states use these transfers as matching funds to draw down additional federal money back to the facilities.
“The federal government is encouraging states to discriminate against the most vulnerable,” Blase said. “The most problematic are where you get a local health facility that transfers money to the state. The state then uses that as its payment back to the facility and then leverages the federal dollars. So, it’s a way for states to use the Medicaid financing system to benefit the governmental providers at the expense of the taxpayer.”
Blase cited California as an example, stating the state pays government-owned ambulance providers more than triple the reimbursement rate given to private ambulance providers through its Medicaid framework.
The committee also examined the performance of Medicaid Fraud Control Units. Ingram testified that enforcement metrics have declined despite increased funding allocations.
“It’s not a new problem; it’s been going on for years,” Ingram said. “It definitely worsened under President Biden. States are getting more funding from taxpayers than ever for these units and getting worse results. Investigations are down, indictments are down, convictions are down, recoveries are down… This is a longstanding problem, and nobody really seemed to care about it until President Trump.”
READ: Florida Man Facing 6 Felonies After Stalking Ex-Girlfriend, Stealing Teddy Bear With Her Son’s Ashes
Please make a small donation to the Tampa Free Press to help sustain independent journalism. Your contribution enables us to continue delivering high-quality, local, and national news coverage.
Sign up: Subscribe to our free newsletter for a curated selection of top stories delivered straight to your inbox.
