THE MAJORITY OF UTAH RESIDENTS ENDORSE THE EXPANSION OF MEDICAID UNDER ACA

By Howard Green

Just under 60% of Utah residents side with the expansion of Medicaid under the ACA so as to include a greater number of low-income adults, according to a recent poll. A strong majority of Utahns stand behind a complete Medicaid expansion, according to the poll carried out by Dan Jones and Associates for UtahPolicy.com.

Thirty-six percent protest the expansion of Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act, whereas four percent said they "don't know."

There certainly are hopes from activists that a voter referendum next year will expand the state's Medicaid program. The group has up until the middle of April to gather the required 113,143 signatures to get on the November 2018 ballot. Those that advocate the initiative were motivated after a similar effort in Maine passed by voter referendum last month.

Activist groups in Idaho are also aiming to get on the state's ballot next year.

31 states and Washington, D.C., have extended Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act.

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GAO REPORTS $95 BILLION WASTED IN FISCAL 2016

By Howard Green

The GAO announced this week that The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services will need to create a much more rugged risk-based anti-fraud solution for the Medicare and Medicaid programs. Improper payments within both programs totaled about $95 billion in fiscal 2016.

The GAO, in a report published on December 5, 2017, indicated that CMS's anti-fraud objectives merely "partially align" with the GAO's fraud risk framework, which gives guidance on developing anti-fraud initiatives. The report notes that despite the fact that CMS has implemented anti-fraud training programs for stakeholders such as service providers, it does not require equivalent awareness training for agency staff members.

The report also declared that CMS does not have a fraud risk assessment for Medicare and Medicaid, in conjunction with an anti-fraud strategy for both programs.

"By developing a fraud risk assessment and using that assessment to create an anti-fraud strategy and evaluation approach, CMS could better ensure that it is addressing the full portfolio of risks and strategically targeting the most-significant fraud risks facing Medicare and Medicaid," the GAO stated.

In response, HHS said it will develop risk-based anti-fraud strategies for both Medicare and Medicaid after it completes its ongoing fraud-risk assessment of the federal healthcare marketplace.

The report was driven in part by earlier GAO assessments that determined both Medicare and Medicaid as having a great risk for fraud, waste, and abuse.

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