Fraud found in RI assistance programs. (Providence, Coventry: 2013, mortgage, homes)
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PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) -- Gov. Lincoln Chafee's administration is reviewing a report that found waste and fraud in Rhode Island's Medicaid and food stamp programs but is withholding the report from the public because it could prompt a criminal investigation, the independent governor said Monday.
He said it was premature to release the report, which was conducted by former gubernatorial candidate Ken Block, and that his administration will take action to ensure the integrity of the two programs. Chafee said no criminal investigations are under way, but any evidence of criminal misconduct would be handed over to authorities.
The report is now under review by department heads and staffers who regularly review Medicaid and food stamp compliance, Chafee told reporters Monday.
"You don't want to jeopardize an investigation," he said, adding that his plan is "if there's any abuse, get law enforcement involved and prosecute it." Chafee told WJAR-TV last week that he doesn't intend to release the report, which was put together for free by Simpatico Software System, of which Block is the president. The former Moderate Party candidate would not comment on the details of the report, saying his contract prohibits him from releasing the findings.
Simpatico was asked by the state to "conduct a systematic waste and fraud analysis across all Department of Health and Human Services spending programs," according to a Feb. 2012 statement posted on the company's website.
It's not surprising to find cases of apparent fraud or waste in large federally funded programs that serve thousands of people, Chafee said. But he said residents can be assured he would do what is necessary to strengthen safeguards to prevent abuse.
"Anytime you have a big program... there's always some abuse," he said.
The leader of the Rhode Island State Police, Col. Steven O'Donnell, declined to comment and referred questions about the report to the governor's office.
Rhode Island had the third highest "payment error rate" for food stamps in the nation for Fiscal Year 2011, according to federal statistics. The payment error rate documents improperly approved eligibility and benefits. Rhode Island's error rate for 2012 was 7.69 percent, compared to a national average of 3.32 percent.
More than 175,000 Rhode Islanders receive food stamps, now known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. Eligibility for the federally funded program is based on household income.
Some 225,000 Rhode Island residents were enrolled in Medicaid in 2009, the latest year for which numbers were available on the program's website. The federal government spent $1.18 billion on enrollees that year while the state contributed $690 million. Chafee: Fraud found in RI assistance programs - Yahoo! News
A) The governor says that prematurely revealing any information found during the investigation could jeopardize the chance of prosecuting wrongdoers. I'm not sure how sound this argument is, but it isn't altogether unreasonable. It seems to imply that even without the Open Records act, sunlight would disinfect this stuff soon enough.
B) Food stamp fraud in Rhode Island is a teeny-tiny, itsy-bitsy percentage of recipients. The articles last week said the percentage came in below 10. Now does that make it OK? Absolutely not! But let's keep things in proportion here.
"Rhode Island's error rate for 2012 was 7.69 percent, compared to a national average of 3.32 percent.
That means, as bad as this is, that less than one in ten commits fraud here. So should we bring these folks to justice? Absolutely. As long as it doesn't turn into some Right Wing Witch Hunt to screw the other more than 9 out of 10 folks who need help and followed the law.
I know WPRO will be all over this saying it proves that the entire program is riddled with fraud, they're probably doing it already. Just remember, it's a lie. The fraudulent rate is a disgrace, but it does not negate the legitimate need of the vast majority of folks who are suffering right now.
Agreed RNRboy. Chafee commissioned the report because the feds wanted the states to do so. He plans to punish the wrongdoers but releasing findings prematurely could screw that up.
We need to ferret out all the fraud we can w/o, as Chafee says, declaring war on poor people.
Could we have a little more outrage over the enormous and wasteful military budget and the still un-prosecuted Wall Street boys of 2008??? The Wall Street boys brought down the equity in all of our homes across the country and destroyed the economy. Much much much bigger fish!!!
Gump will be forced to release the report.
Of course he'd much rather keep it hidden, but can't.
He may present the decision as his, but it is not his to make.
The law is the law.
Under the law, records compiled by law enforcement in the course of a criminal investigation do not have to be released to the public. But this case is different, Brown said, because the report was not generated in the course of a criminal probe but rather may be used in such an investigation. He said the law explicitly says that when a previously existing public record is used in a criminal probe, it is still public. Chafee's office to decide Wed. on report release - News - Boston.com
Could we have a little more outrage over the enormous and wasteful military budget and the still un-prosecuted Wall Street boys of 2008??? The Wall Street boys brought down the equity in all of our homes across the country and destroyed the economy. Much much much bigger fish!!!
LOL, Wall Street owns and pays for Congress. Both sides of the aisle. Congress is nothing more than a lobbying firm for the rich and powerful, bought and paid for. Congress created the circumstances that allowed the mortgage crisis, they failed to oversee the environment they created, and they will fail to prosecute those culpible.....the SEC is hand in hand with protecting the guilty, too. Of course Martha Stewart went to jail....what a joke....they created a situation that drove up home prices, then ran and hid when it (inevitably) crashed.
Until last year Congress wasn't even subject to insider trading laws.
I'm more concerned about the large number of able bodied people and criminal aliens on welfare than I am about military spending.
But until the government actually reduces spending- not just reducing the rate of growth- things will not improve. The unemployed and underemployed are living paycheck to paycheck, and those of us left in the middle class are about taxed out.
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