State lawmakers are calling for stronger efforts to investigate fraud and abuse in North Carolina’s Medicaid system. A state House committee held a nearly three-hour hearing Thursday on the topic, questioning Attorney General Jeff Jackson and Health and Human Services Secretary Dev Sangvai.
Rep. Grant Campbell, R-Cabarrus, says his staff found several examples of suspicious billing from Medicaid providers. One appeared to be headquartered in an abandoned storefront, and another reported high travel expenses and cash withdrawals.
“Rooting out waste, fraud and abuse isn’t just a fiscal issue, it is a moral one,” Campbell said. “Every dollar misused is a dollar not spent on a child with autism, a senior needing care or a patient waiting for treatment. … We keep talking about how we have no money to look into this, and we had two staffers with Google and an Excel sheet in less than two…
Review your monthly bank statements and credit card bills line-by-line to spot small “tester” transactions of R5 or R10, which fraudsters use to verify if a stolen card is still active.