SLS 19RS-2250 ORIGINAL
2019 Regular Session
SENATE RESOLUTION NO. 179
BY SENATOR RISER
MEDICAID. Requests the legislative auditor to review and report on the 1,692 Medicaid
recipients who reported income in excess of $100,000 on their 2017 calendar year income
tax returns.
1 A RESOLUTION
2 To urge and request the legislative auditor to review and report on the one thousand six
3 hundred ninety-two Medicaid recipients who reported income in excess of one
4 hundred thousand dollars on their 2017 calendar year income tax return.
5 WHEREAS, spending on the medical assistance program operated pursuant to Title
6 XIX of the Social Security Act, referred to in this Resolution as the "state Medicaid
7 program", comprises approximately forty percent of the total state budget, and provides
8 healthcare coverage for approximately thirty-five percent of the citizens in the state of
9 Louisiana; and
10 WHEREAS, cost containment in the state Medicaid program is an urgent priority of
11 this state as any wasted dollars take away money from what can be used to enhance other
12 needed healthcare services; and
13 WHEREAS, it is vital to prevent fraud and abuse committed by any healthcare
14 provider and by any other person participating in the state Medicaid program, including
15 Medicaid enrollees, and to negate the adverse effects of Medicaid fraud and abuse on the
16 fiscal integrity and public health of this state as part of cost containment efforts; and
17 WHEREAS, the federal government, through the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid
18 Services, sets strict eligibility criteria that participants must meet in order to be enrolled in
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SLS 19RS-2250 ORIGINAL
1 the state Medicaid program, including income limits based on household size and federal
2 poverty levels; and
3 WHEREAS, the Louisiana Department of Revenue found that nearly eighty-four
4 thousand Medicaid enrollees had income that could disqualify them from participating in the
5 state Medicaid program; and
6 WHEREAS, the Louisiana Department of Revenue further identified one thousand
7 six hundred ninety-two enrollees who reported income of more than one hundred thousand
8 dollars on their 2017 calendar year income tax returns; and
9 WHEREAS, the legislative auditor issued a report in November 2018, Medicaid
10 Eligibility: Wage Verification Process of the Expansion Population, noting likely improper
11 payments for ineligible Medicaid enrollees totaling up to eighty-five and one half million
12 dollars, and another report in December 2018, Medicaid Eligibility: Modified Gross Income
13 Determination Process, noted ineligible Medicaid enrollees and possible annual cost savings
14 of up to one hundred eleven million dollars if processes were strengthened and errors were
15 eliminated.
16 THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Senate of the Legislature of Louisiana
17 does hereby urge and request the legislative auditor to review and report on those Medicaid
18 enrollees who reported income in excess of one hundred thousand dollars on their 2017
19 calendar year income tax returns.
20 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Louisiana Department of Health will provide
21 assistance to the legislative auditor during these reviews.
22 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the legislative auditor communicate findings to
23 the Louisiana Department of Health so the department can use this information in its
24 eligibility redetermination process.
25 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be transmitted to the
26 Louisiana Department of Health and the legislative auditor.
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SLS 19RS-2250 ORIGINAL
The original instrument and the following digest, which constitutes no part
of the legislative instrument, were prepared by Mary Dozier O'Brien.
DIGEST
SR 179 Original 2019 Regular Session Riser
Requests the legislative auditor to review and report on the 1,692 Medicaid enrollees who
reported income in excess of $100,000 on their 2017 calendar year income tax return.
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