Rep. Angie Craig’s Bipartisan Bill to Prevent Improper Medicaid Payments Passes Key Committee

WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Representatives Angie Craig (D-MN) and Gus Bilirakis’ (R-FL) bipartisan legislation to prevent Medicaid payments from being issued on behalf of deceased enrollees passed the Energy and Commerce Committee today with unanimous support from both parties.

The bill now heads to the House floor for a vote.

“We must do everything we can to ensure taxpayer dollars are being spent responsibly – I'm proud to see my colleagues from both sides of the aisle come together to pass my legislation out of Committee to help achieve that goal, and I look forward to voting for it on the House floor,” said Rep. Craig.

A recent report spanning 14 states revealed more than $249 million – and $3.7 million in Minnesota – made in payments on behalf of deceased enrollees between 2009 and 2019.

The bipartisan Leveraging Integrity and Verification of Eligibility (LIVE) Beneficiaries Act seeks to prevent those wasteful payments by requiring states to verify through a quarterly check with the Social Security Administration’s Death Master File database that Medicaid recipients are not deceased and remove any deceased beneficiaries from their databases.

Text of the bipartisan LIVE Beneficiaries Act can be found here.

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