30,000 Louisiana residents removed from Medicaid rolls

At least 30,000 Louisiana residents have been purged from the state’s Medicaid rolls after a recent quarterly computer check found receive too much income to qualify for the program.
Notices were sent out in February to 40,000 Medicaid enrollees, and of those people 30,500 have lost their benefits. The majority of that number are non-elderly adults who qualified for Medicaid during Governor John Bel Edwards’ expansion of the program in 2016.
The state’s attorney general Jeff Landry responded to the Medicaid cuts. In a statement he said, “Medicaid welfare costs taxpayers approximately $500 per month per recipient. This multi-million dollar mess could have been avoided had the governor properly vetted these welfare applicants, not simply rushed to get as many recipients on the rolls as possible. The governor should accompany today’s announcement, which comes after years of warnings from Auditor (Daryl) Purpera and me, with an apology to Louisiana taxpayers for the amount of fraud and waste his irresponsible actions caused.”
Governor Edwards did not respond to the attorney general’s criticisms. However, he did announce he would no longer seek work requirements for some adult Medicaid recipients. As an alternative, he proposed a pilot program that would give Medicaid recipients skills needed to get a higher paying job.
In a press release the governor said, “We are excited to be able to announce this pilot program that will build on the existing success of the State’s Medicaid Expansion efforts. It offers a practical and Louisiana-specific approach to connect expansion recipients to viable training opportunities that will lead to better jobs and better-earning potential. Creating a program that is helpful but not punitive is something we have consistently been working on. State lawmakers came together and spoke loud and clear on this issue. And with the recent court decisions against the faulty design of similar programs in other states, we are even more convinced that this is the correct path take.”