Ohio's auditor says the state can cut down on Medicaid fraud by verifying that home health care workers are where they say they are.
Auditor Dave Yost's office released the recommendation Thursday after a performance audit of the state Department of Job and Family Services. The report says telephone monitoring of home service providers can help reduce fraudulent Medicaid billings and save the state almost $20 million annually. Workers could be required to call from a client's home phone, or use a cell phone with GPS tracking to mark their locations. Yost's office says such monitoring has helped to deter double billing or billing for services never provided. State Medicaid Director John McCarthy says the agency has already put in place fraud control recommendations from the Ohio attorney general.