Louisiana auditor finds $1.4M in improper, duplicate Medicaid payments

A new audit says Louisiana's Medicaid program paid what appears to be $1.4 million in improper, duplicate payments for services over a five-year period.

The report released Monday by Legislative Auditor Daryl Purpera's Office says auditors reviewed Medicaid eligibility files and claims data covering January 2011 through October 2016 to look for duplicate payments. Auditors found $2.8 million in duplicate claims and believe erroneous payments make up half the amount.

The Louisiana Department of Health says it has established a way to find and eliminate duplicate IDs for Medicaid recipients and has scoured records to find duplicate payments.

The agency says it is doing such work routinely to catch duplicate payments and has recovered $1.4 million — though the auditor's office says that's not included in duplicate payments it found.

Read more: http://www.theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/news/politics/article_409ae5c2-18ad-11e7-8886-b73f0fd52007.html