California to Repay $53M in Federal Funds that Were Used to Give Migrants Free Medical Care

Gavin Newsom, video screenshot

California has a $44.9 billion deficit. Last December, the Golden State became the first in the nation to give illegal aliens taxpayer-funded health insurance. Since its implementation, around 700,000 people have become eligible for Medi-Cal, the state version of the low-income federal Medicaid program.

The Golden State must now repay $52.7 million to the federal government after improperly claiming reimbursement from the Medicaid program for some immigrant patients. States are generally barred from claiming Medicaid reimbursement for treating immigrants called “noncitizens with unsatisfactory immigration status,” a category that does not include immigrants who are refugees, have been granted asylum, or were legally admitted for permanent residence under federal law. California has gradually extended its Medicaid program, called Medi-Cal, to provide coverage for immigrants in the country without legal authorization.

.

California needs to repay more than $52 million to the federal government after improperly claiming reimbursement from the Medicaid program for some immigrant patients, according to a recently released report from federal inspectors.

The findings, released by the Office of the Inspector General at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, come as California has been staring down a $44.9-billion deficit.

However, state officials said the refund had already been accounted for in the California budget plan, which includes a variety of spending reductions. H.D. Palmer, deputy director of external affairs for the California Department of Finance, said it would not trigger additional cuts.

States are generally barred from claiming Medicaid reimbursement for treating immigrants who do not meet federal requirements, with the exception of emergency care. The federal government calls the prohibited group “noncitizens with unsatisfactory immigration status,” a category that does not include immigrants who are refugees, have been granted asylum, or were legally admitted for permanent residence under federal law.

Despite those restrictions, states can expand their Medicaid programs to provide additional services that are fully funded by the states rather than the federal government. California has gradually extended its Medicaid program, called Medi-Cal, to provide coverage for immigrants in the country without legal authorization.

Under its program, it pays managed care plans a fixed amount each month for each Medi-Cal enrollee. California used a formula to determine how much of those payments went to “nonemergency services” for immigrant patients whose care is not covered by the federal government, then subtracted it from the total to calculate how much went to their emergency care, which can be reimbursed under Medicaid.

California said the federal government had given its blessing for that calculation method “sometime in the early 2000s,” but could not provide any records showing it had been approved, according to the report from the Office of the Inspector General.

The federal audit found that out of nearly $373 million in Medicaid reimbursement for immigrants who did not meet the federal requirements, California improperly claimed $52.7 million from October 2018 through June 2019. It faulted the calculation method used by the state, which had not been reassessed for years and did not accurately reflect the share of costs that went to emergency services, according to the investigators.

The Office of the Inspector General recommended that California refund the money and work with federal regulators to determine how much in federal funding might have been improperly claimed in other years that weren’t covered in the audit. A Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services spokesperson said the federal agency was aware of the report and “we are working with the state of California to address issues the audit raised.”

The California Department of Health Care Services said it did not contest the findings, although the federal audit noted that it was “unable to replicate” the recalculations done by the federal auditors to come up with the refund amount. The state agency said it “plans to repay the federal government in full by June 30.”

 

Read full article here…

Visit our Classified ads.

Check out our Classified ads at the bottom of this page.

Recent stories & commentary

Classified Ads

The appearance of ads on this site does not signify endorsement by the publisher. We cannot vouch for accuracy of statements or integrity of advertisers. We will investigate complaints, however, and remove any message we find to be misleading or that promotes anything fraudulent or unethical.
For ad rates, click here.

Subscribe
Notify of
guest
3 Comments
Oldest
Newest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
Ragnar D.
Ragnar D.
8 months ago

The State of California govt has run out of other people’s money to spend. There will be no federal bailout since other states won’t want to enable the misbehavior further. Nobody is going to loan CA $100B since the State is such a bad credit risk. The New California 51st State movement has positioned itself as the ONLY way out of this mess. New CA will present a new state constitution, clean financial credit, and a business plan to restore prosperity to this land.

Tom Ball
Tom Ball
8 months ago
Reply to  Ragnar D.

Don’t hold your breath. The Zionist occupation is TRYING to break the dollar. It’s part of the economic war being waged against the Constitution and Bill of Rights.
They want to turn the whole planet into a giant Kibbutz.

Tom Ball
Tom Ball
8 months ago

Why not? Just print more money.