Tightening restrictions on participants in the state’s FoodShare and Medicaid programs, have led to a decrease in the amount of over-payments and fraudulent activity.
Led by Eau Claire county, Gov. Walker visited there and touted the programs success and the county-state partnership in reducing fraud in State assistance programs.
The Leader-Telegram reports:
“A state grant put to work in Eau Claire County meant to help detect fraudulent activity by FoodShare and Medicaid participants has saved the program $4.6 million, state and county officials said.
A better monitoring system and support from the state led to the investigations by Eau Claire County of about 2,000 cases since 2012, resulting in $4.6 million that was either identified in over-payments or caught up in fraudulent activity before being dispensed.
“That’s money that goes right back into services for the people who truly need it,” said Gov. Scott Walker, who visited Eau Claire Tuesday to tout the success of the county-state partnership and to thank Eau Claire County staff for its efforts to identify fraudulent activity on taxpayer-funded programs.
“This isn’t just a savings for the taxpayers, which in and of itself is important, but that weeding out waste, fraud and abuse, ensures the resources we have at the local and state level are spent on people who truly need that assistance,” Walker said.
Part of a consortium of 10 counties, Eau Claire receives a grant of about $100,000 annually. Some of that was used this year toward hiring a second investigator to look into cases of fraud in taxpayer-funded programs.”
For more, visit, Leader-Telegram.
