by Greg LaRose, Louisiana Illuminator
August 12, 2025

A review of how Louisiana keeps its Medicaid rolls up to date found the state paid out benefits for more than 1,000 people over the past six years after they died. Nearly $10 million was paid to managed care organizations over that period, even though no health care services were actually provided.

The Louisiana Legislative Auditor conducted its study as part of Gov. Jeff Landry’s Fiscal Responsibility Program, which he has branded LA DOGE. It looked specifically at how state health officials keep track of when Medicaid beneficiaries die and whether outside data sources could help that process. 

When auditors used those additional sources, they found 1,072 beneficiaries who died between February 2019 and March 2025 and approximately $9.6 million spent collectively on their Medicaid coverage. Auditors said the actual spending figure is higher because their calculations only included dental coverage payments – and not health coverage – for the final eight months reviewed.  

According to the audit report, the Louisiana Department of Health relies on federal and state data sources to identify dead Medicaid beneficiaries. They include Louisiana Vital Records, the Social Security Administration, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the state Department of Children and Family Services and the managed care organizations the state pays to deliver Medicaid offerings.

For its analysis, the Louisiana Legislative Auditor’s staff also used obituaries and identified 511 dead Medicaid beneficiaries the state missed in its reviews. Payouts to managed care organizations for this group totaled $5.22 million over the six-year period, and the median time between the beneficiary’s death and the most recent monthly payout to their managed care provider was more than 20 months.

Auditors found 168 more deceased Medicaid beneficiaries through the Social Security Administration’s Death Master File, a source the state health department has not used. The median time between the beneficiary’s death and the latest payment in this group was almost 800 days, according to the audit.   

The Legislative Auditor recommended the Louisiana Department of Health determine whether it should use third-party data sources as part of its eligibility determination process to identify deceased Medicaid beneficiaries. Out of the $9.6 million Louisiana paid for Medicaid services never provided, the audit identified $7.6 million through third-party sources.    

In his July 30 response to the Legislative Auditor, state Health Secretary Bruce Greenstein agreed with the audit’s recommendation and said his department was “in the process of working with the U.S. Department of Treasury to gain the necessary approvals to receive the Social Security Administration Death Master File.” 

The health department was presented with the auditor’s findings in May. In June, approximately $4 million in state payments to Medicaid managed care organizations were to be withheld to recoup part of the money paid on behalf of dead beneficiaries, the audit report said.

This report was updated to correct the name of the state health secretary.

Louisiana Illuminator is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Louisiana Illuminator maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Greg LaRose for questions: info@lailluminator.com.

The post Louisiana paid nearly $10 million for health care dead Medicaid beneficiaries didn’t receive: audit appeared first on lailluminator.com

Note: The following A.I. based commentary is not part of the original article, reproduced above, but is offered in the hopes that it will promote greater media literacy and critical thinking, by making any potential bias more visible to the reader –Staff Editor.

Political Bias Rating: Centrist

This content presents a factual report on Medicaid payments in Louisiana, focusing on an audit that found overpayments for deceased beneficiaries. It provides detailed information from official sources without using emotionally charged language or partisan framing. The article highlights government accountability and administrative efficiency, topics that are generally of interest across the political spectrum, without advocating for a particular political ideology or policy position.