Louisiana DHH Paid $1.9 Milliion For Medicaid For Dead People

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — A new audit says Louisiana paid nearly $1.9 million last year through the state's privatized Medicaid programs for 1,727 people who had died.

Legislative Auditor Daryl Purpera's office released the audit Monday, looking at fees that the state Department of Health and Hospitals paid in the 2012-13 budget year for privatized Medicaid medical and behavioral health services.

Purpera's office compared payments DHH made to the programs to lists of the deceased obtained through DHH's vital records office.

The auditors found that DHH paid $1.6 million to the five managed care organizations that oversee medical services for Medicaid patients. The review says DHH paid $258,000 to the company managing behavioral health services.

DHH says it will seek repayment from the companies by March 31.