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Ohio Medicaid Appeals Charge That It Paid Claims for Dead People

A stock photo of a doctor and patient's hands.
SHUTTERSTOCK.COM
The federal inspector general claims the department paid more than $51 million for dead people.

Ohio’s Medicaid Department says a report by the federal inspector general that says the agency paid for medical care for dead people is wrong. 

Ohio's Medicaid Department spokesman Tom Betti takes issue with the federal inspector general who says the department paid more than $51 million for dead people on the program.

“No provider was paid for services for a deceased person and nearly a year ago, as part of ongoing work to modernize the system, safeguards went online that prevent it from happening," Betti said.

Betti says the federal inspector general used a limited sample that included incorrect data generated before the agency modernized its system. He says it was a computer error and adds the agency is appealing the claim. 

Jo Ingles is a professional journalist who covers politics and Ohio government for the Ohio Public Radio and Television for the Ohio Public Radio and Television Statehouse News Bureau. She reports on issues of importance to Ohioans including education, legislation, politics, and life and death issues such as capital punishment. Jo started her career in Louisville, Kentucky in the mid 80’s when she helped produce a televised presidential debate for ABC News, worked for a creative services company and served as a general assignment report for a commercial radio station. In 1989, she returned back to her native Ohio to work at the WOSU Stations in Columbus where she began a long resume in public radio.