Oregon secretary of state sounds alarm over Medicaid eligibility

SALEM, Ore. (AP) – The Oregon secretary of state says 86,000 people who are receiving Medicaid benefits in the state may be ineligible.

In an “audit alert,” Dennis Richardson said Wednesday they represent 8 percent of the state’s entire Medicaid population, costing $37 million per month.

Richardson, a Republican elected in November to the state’s second-highest office, said these people have not undergone federally required annual benefit eligibility determinations.

Rep. Dan Rayfield, a Democrat from Corvallis and co-chair of the Joint Ways and Means Subcommittee on Human Services, said that enrollment data should be cleaned up and eligibility issues fixed. But Rayfield also said political ploys aimed at grabbing headlines before full information is available are unhelpful.

Richardson said his audit alerts highlight urgent concerns before an audit’s completion.

House Republican Leader Mike McLane (R-Powell Butte) issued the following statement following the release of the audit alert, titled ” The Oregon Health Authority May Be Providing Medicaid Benefits to Ineligible Recipients “:

“This news is disconcerting on many fronts. But frankly, our state government’s incompetence with taxpayer money never ceases to amaze me. Lawmakers and the public deserve a full accounting for what led to such a significant failure of management and oversight.”