State Auditor's Claims About Wealthy Receiving Medicaid Were Misleading stream In Mississippi, the state contracts with health providers to provide Medicaid coverage to nearly 500,000 people. See The Spending JACKSON, Miss. . New Mexico, Ohio, Georgia, Kansas and Arkansas are also investigating, according to the Wall Street Journal. At least two Mississippi Medicaid recipients are making six figures and living in million-dollar homes, according to State Auditor Shad White, and he wants legislators to strengthen Medicaid investigators powers as a result. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis, File - Copyright 2020 The Associated Press. You can call him at 601-559-3857, send it to LSanderlin@gannett.com or message him on Twitter @LeeOSanderlin. Program Auditors | Mississippi State Personnel Board - MS Jackson, MS 39205-0956 The total amount of funds recovered by the Office of the State Auditor for Fiscal Year ending June 30, 2022, was $1,960,926.57. 3 \2RJB* " ?e)! (AF~R0gH@PXu$6BLQkQ([ (- F-BJ6i0o*/wr{`f (d)/@53@b-WzHa I R$Sb % |2 `Y X}f, ~"##Y\\~ Mississippi Office of the State Auditor | 1,098 followers on LinkedIn. manager, for charging Medicaid more than the allowed price cap. Neither person is named in the report because the investigation is ongoing. Jv|,w\7"|L\M$E9VzT);2op)7=mi+uUv( wRP3LA3$H.~1q^T_JWN?yAKDMcJ.anLNm"'[:[^[kirKe(d)Cb 9,j\Vs?O'm=BcJ&i&#f9YmVpeo cU%&[ ^/^\"rH&uwoNu|"ROyVV[Ht&jwQ\=.Mut|qHr\la4#v/v 2cC.+:RBaGB]VJ7V If MTC does not make payment on the demand within 30 days, the case will be transmitted to the Mississippi Attorney Generals Office for litigation. The NAACP's Johnson said in his letter, "these apparent crimes were ignored by DOJ under your predecessor Attorney General, and we are calling on you to take action that is long overdue. endobj "The Department received the letter and will review it," a spokesperson for the Justice Department told ABC News in a statement. The others indicted include Nancy New, the former owner of the Mississippi Community Education Center (MCEC); her son, Zach New, the assistant executive director of the MCEC; and former Department of Human Services employee Gregory "Latimer" Smith. Legislative Update When asked why the item was removed, Deputy City Attorney Terry Williamson said the city attorneys office made the decision after the state auditor reached out regarding the bills and after city legal noticed discrepancies in the hourly rate approved by the council and the amount charged by the attorney. DHS hired a firm to conduct a forensic audit to detail how millions of dollars meant to help the poor in Mississippi were misused under former Executive Director John Davis. Both women pleaded guilty to conspiracy and embezzlement. Copyright 2023 WLBT. endobj The total amount of funds recovered by the Office of the State Auditor for Fiscal Year ending June 30, 2021, was The Office of the State Auditor continues to serve as a watchdog organization . Mississippi Todays The Backchannel investigation, State Auditor Shad White discusses welfare investigation, former Gov. Look for the "Republish This Story" button underneath each story. There was an error and we couldn't process your subscription. The state's settlement with Centene provides a glimpse of what the UnitedHealth probe may center on. Bryant has since acknowledged that the content of his messages doesnt look good, but while the auditors office has possessed the records for over two years, it concealed them from the public and has not made any indication it has further investigated the matter. "We have an incredible team of professionals in the Investigations division, doing some of the most important white-collar crime work in . No further arrests have been made since Whites office initially arrested six people in February of 2020 Bryants head of DHS and another agency employee, former pro wrestler Brett DiBiase, a nonprofit and private school owner and her son and an accountant that worked for them. As for other efforts to recoup mishandled funds, in the FY 2022 Audit Exceptions Report, Auditor White said the Investigations Law Enforcement Division issued eighty-seven formal demands for a total of $101,026,109.27 and recovered misspent or embezzled funds totaling $1,926,802.10. The rule that I lived by was if there is any question whatsoever, dont do it, said Pete Johnson, who served as state auditor from 1988-1992, and ran unsuccessfully for governor, losing to Kirk Fordice in the Republican primary in 1991. To learn more about our cartoon syndication services. All rights reserved. Johnson said under similar circumstances, if he had such connections to someone potentially involved, he would have recused himself or limited his role in the investigation. Today State Auditor Shad White announced Stephanie Churchill has pleaded guilty to embezzlement in Benton County Circuit Court. Just as in the forensic audit you saw the auditors reached out to a number of people. Three former state auditors say they would have recused themselves or limited their involvement in the investigation into Mississippi's welfare fraud scandal to avoid perceptions of conflict of interest due to current auditor Shad White's close relationship with former Gov.

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