Miss. State Auditor wants extra tools in place to detect Medicaid fraud

JACKSON, Miss. (WCBI) – Mississippi’s State Auditor wants lawmakers to give the Division of Medicaid a new tool to detect potential fraud. As the law stands right now, Medicaid workers don’t have the authority to get applicants’ state income tax returns, and compare those to income claimed on Medicaid applications. State Auditor Shad White’s office audited a sampling of Medicaid beneficiaries across the state. Out of 180 cases, the auditor found 5 percent were ineligible because of the income reported on their tax returns. Of those, 2 lived in multi-million dollar homes. The audit has led Medicaid to identify possible fraud cases to investigate. Around 750,000 Mississippians are on Medicaid.