Improper Medicaid, CHIP Payments on the Rise

The rate at which Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program made improper payments rose considerably in federal fiscal year 2019. According to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, the Medicaid improper payment rate in FY 2019 was 14.9 percent, amounting to $57.36 billion in improper payments.  The improper payment rate that year for CHIP services was 15.83 percent, representing $2.74 billion in improper payments.  Both are significant increases over FY 2018, when the Medicaid improper payment rate was 9.7 percent, representing $36.25 billion, and the CHIP rate was 8.57 percent, for $1.39 billion. CMS maintains that the improper [...]