Study slams NM's Medicaid fraud pursuit

From KRQE-TV.com - You’re not doing your job, a new Legislative Finance Committee report says about Medicaid fraud, waste and abuse investigations by two state agencies. The report was released Wednesday morning offering a scathing review for the Human Services Department and Office of the Attorney General and their inability to adequately prosecute cases and get tax dollars back. "My first knee jerk reaction is, why is this the situation in the state," said Legislative Finance Committee Chairman Senator John Arthur Smith (D-Deming). The report’s review says structural, functional and oversight issues need to be addressed in order to ensure effective use of state and federal resources. "Medicaid is a $4 billion price tag here to the state, with 75 cents on the dollar coming from the federal government. So we're not talking nickels and dimes. We're talking big time dollars," said Smith. Among the findings, New Mexico ranks 49th nationally in return on investment and total dollars recovered from Fiscal Year 2010. That means the state actually spends more money on investigating fraud than the money recovered. Read more

Study slams NM's Medicaid fraud pursuit