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WASHINGTON—Today, House Committee on Oversight and Reform Ranking Member James Comer (R-Ky.) and Oversight Republicans wrote a follow-up letter to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure renewing their demand for answers regarding the massive number of improper payments made by the Medicaid program. CMS’s failure to respond to the request for documents and subsequent requests for updates shows an apparent attempt to subvert congressional oversight.

“Improper payments in the Medicaid program are an important issue for taxpayers. CMS’ own numbers show that in Fiscal Year (FY) 2019, Medicaid made $57.36 billion in improper payments representing 32.8 percent of all improper payments across the federal government. According to CMS, in FY 2020, improper payments rose to $86.9 billion, meaning more than 1 out of every 5 Medicaid payments were improper. It is critical that we understand where and why these improper payments are occurring,” wrote the lawmakers. 

On August 17th, Oversight Republicans initially wrote to CMS requesting state specific Medicaid improper payment information from 2015 to 2020. This information should be provided as soon as possible so that proper oversight may be conducted over the waste occuring in the Medicaid program.  

Read the full letter to Administrator Brooks-LaSure here.