Louisiana Medicaid review uncovers $9.6 million in payments made to deceased beneficiaries

Baton Rouge, LA

Louisiana’s Medicaid program, a significant expense for the state, provides healthcare to over 1.6 million residents. Typically, when a beneficiary passes away, they are removed from the Medicaid roster. However, between February 2019 and March 2025, the state disbursed $9.6 million for 1,072 individuals who had died.

The Legislative Audit Office of Louisiana identified this issue by cross-referencing data with the federal Social Security database.

Chris Maggie noted, “If someone goes out of state and dies, it may not appear on Louisiana’s vital records. Additionally, individuals who died elsewhere but didn’t officially move might not be recorded here. Our approach is to utilize as many data sources as possible.”

This raises the question: why wasn’t the Louisiana Department of Health (LDH) employing similar methods? According to Magee, “We haven’t really explored alternative data sets that might improve the process.”

Both state and federal funds for Medicaid flow through third-party managed care organizations. For six years, payments were sent to these organizations even for deceased individuals. House Appropriations Committee Chairman Rep. Jack McFarland described the situation as “incredible,” warning of potential future investigations. He remarked, “If it turns out we were knowingly receiving funds for deceased individuals, that’s fraudulent. We will address this in upcoming contract renewals.”

After the audit, the LDH managed to recover $4 million in improperly allocated funds. Bruce Greenstein, the newly appointed LDH secretary, referred to the situation as “embarrassing for anyone overseeing system integrity.” He emphasized, “We’re adopting a fresh approach to honor the individuals we serve.”

The LDH intends to conduct monthly checks on Medicaid rolls, even though federal guidelines only mandate checks every six months. The auditor remarked that this was one of the fastest follow-ups to an audit report, emphasizing LA-Dodge’s commitment to refining the state’s budget.