“New Report: Addressing Medicaid Money Laundering,” by Brian Blase, Paragon Health Institute
“This morning, Paragon released a new report, Addressing Medicaid Money Laundering: The Lack of Integrity with Medicaid Financing and the Need for Reform. The basic takeaway: the federal government permits states to engage in money laundering tactics leading to massive increases in federal funding flowing into the states, much of which goes to higher Medicaid payments to providers. I provide an abridged version of the executive summary of the report below, which includes many of our recommendations to improve the integrity of Medicaid financing. … Provider taxes and IGTs have expanded recently. The latest laundering tactic: taxing insurers in Medicaid managed care. This scheme always boosts state general revenue. California, for example, used such a tax to have the federal government fully fund Medicaid expansion for illegal immigrants and to remove asset tests for long-term care—letting wealthy families shield inheritances while taxpayers cover the cost.”
LTC Comment, Stephen A. Moses, President, Center for Long-Term Care Reform:
Stay tuned for a forthcoming Paragon report focusing on California’s removal of “asset tests for long-term care—letting wealthy families shield inheritances while taxpayers cover the cost.”