An audit of federal funds says Missouri's Medicaid program failed to recover as much as $27 million in medical expenses from deceased participants in the program.
The audit released Tuesday found claims were not filed quickly enough in more than 30,000 cases where the state may have been able to recover money.
Missouri law allows the state to recover Medicaid funds spent on a participant as a state debt. The state must file a claim against the person's estate in probate court within a year of their death. The Department of Social Services unit responsible for filing claims says it does not have sufficient staff to review all of the cases of deceased patients.
The audit also found continued eligibility verification problems in welfare programs overseen by the department.
