Obamacare Funds Mismanaged In Oregon As Dem Gov Kate Brown Ignores Rising Costs

Just weeks after failed Democrat Oregon governor Kate Brown went on MSNBC to praise Obamacare, calling it “very cost-effective” for both Oregon’s government and the federal government, new reports reveal that millions in Medicaid assistance may have been dispensed to ineligible recipients due to the state’s move to skip the normal once-a-year eligibility check made to accommodate Obamacare’s implementation. This is the latest in a long list of burdens on the people of Oregon in the wake of Obamacare’s implementation, almost a year after the state’s co-up closed its doors after costing the taxpayers millions.

The Oregonian reports:

“The state of Oregon said Tuesday it had dispensed millions of dollars in Medicaid assistance to thousands of Oregonians with no idea whether they were eligible.

The Oregon Health Authority says it is working to clarify whether as many as 115,000 Medicaid recipients have incomes low enough to qualify for the benefits they have been receiving.

As the Affordable Care Act vastly expanded the Medicaid population in Oregon, the state got approval to skip the normal once-a-year eligibility check on its Medicaid clients. Recipients did qualify initially, agency officials said, but the state failed to check to ensure they still qualified. The lack of regular checks, coupled with lingering technological issues with the agency’s computer systems, has led to the current situation, they said.

Officials declined to offer a ballpark estimate of how much Medicaid assistance may have been wrongfully dispensed. But they confirmed they are in the process of terminating 14,000 Medicaid recipients who were receiving benefits but failed to respond to their queries. The agency continues to analyze 17,000 more who did respond to determine if they still qualify. That leaves 84,000 who still must be checked out.

The stakes are huge. The average Medicaid recipient costs the state and federal government about $430 a month. At that rate, even if it is determined that just the 14,000 recipients actually shouldn’t have qualified, the annual outlay could top $72 million a year.”

While Kate Brown continues to promote national Democrat talking points backing the failed Obamacare law, it continues to cost Oregon millions of taxpayer dollars while her administration  egregiously fails to carry out its Medicaid dispensing duties competently.