OFFICIALS LEGISLATION INTEREST GROUPS PUBLIC STATEMENTS COMMITTEES VETOES

Letter to Hon. Chiquita Brooks-LaSure, Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services - Comer, Oversight Republicans Renew Demand for Answers on Rampant Improper Welfare Payments

Letter

Date: Oct. 7, 2021
Location: Washington, DC
Issues: Health Insurance

Dear Administrator Brooks-LaSure:

On August 17, 2021, we wrote you to regarding the more than $144.26 billion in
improper payments by Medicaid over the past two years. You failed to respond.

Republican staff requested an update from CMS staff on September 2, 2021 about the
status of the request. CMS staff responded five days later on September 7, 2021, informing
Republican staff that "[w]e are still working on the reply to [the] ranking member's letter. I am
happy to stay in touch on this." Unfortunately, that has not been in case. Republican staff
requested updates on September 8 and September 16, but CMS failed to respond.

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 why these
improper payments are occurring.

CMS' apparent decision to subvert congressional oversight of the Medicaid program and
inability to even provide updates via email is troubling. As the Committee tasked with rooting
out waste, fraud, and abuse in the federal government, Committee Republicans renew our
previous request for all state specific Medicaid improper payment rate information from 2015 to
2020. Please provide these documents as soon as possible but no later than October 21, 2021.

To ask any follow-up or related questions, please contact Committee on Oversight and
Reform Republican staff at (202) 225-5074. The Committee on Oversight and Reform is the
principal oversight committee of the U.S. House of Representatives and has broad authority to
investigate "any matter" at "any time" under House Rule X. Thank you in advance for your
cooperation with this inquiry.

Sincerely,

Members of Congress


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