American Thinker: Medicaid fraud in Louisiana is ignored while the state’s governor chooses to penalize the elderly and infirm.  State government officials believe he’s acting haphazardly and callously.

Daryl Purpera is not only legislative auditor for the State of Louisiana, but also chairman of the Louisiana Task Force on Coordination of Medicaid Fraud Detection and Prevention Initiatives.  In a recent testimony before the Subcommittee on Government Operations and the Subcommittee on Intergovernmental Affairs, he spoke “specifically about the underutilization of the State Auditors in the fight against fraud, waste, abuse, and improper payments.”

While he is unquestionably aware of rampant Medicaid fraud in the state, Governor John Bel Edwards has “underutilized” the auditor’s preventative measures before making an unprecedented decision.  Instead of pursuing the overt abuse of Medicaid – which he is fully aware didn’t happen overnight, as shown below – Edwards chose a fear-mongering alternative.

He encouraged the Louisiana Department of Health to notify nearly 37,000 recipients of Medicaid, many who are cared for in nursing or group homes, that they could lose their benefits as a result of proposed state cuts.  In essence, tens of thousands of Louisiana’s elderly who are fully dependent on the care of professionals could be evicted from their facilities due to lack of state funding.  more