Reps call for probe over lost Medicaid

WASHINGTON — A group of Democratic lawmakers from Texas is asking the Federal Trade Commission to investigate allegations that hundreds of thousands of Texans incorrectly lost Medicaid coverage because of flaws in the automated renewal system developed by the accounting firm Deloitte.

In a letter to FTC Chair Lina Khan, U.S. Reps. Lizzie Fletcher of Houston and Colin Allred of Dallas, along with three other Texas representatives, cited a complaint filed by the nonprofit National Health Law Program claiming Deloitte’s software had given Medicaid applicants inaccurate deadlines and told them required documents had not been received when they had.

“Although this complaint is focused on redeterminations in Texas, Deloitte had or currently has contracts with approximately 20 states to provide redetermination software,” the lawmakers wrote. “The issues with this software are not new.”

A Deloitte spokesperson said the company was “proud” of its work with state health departments and “believes the filing is without merit.”

Millions of people across the country have lost Medicaid coverage since the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services lifted a ban last year on states removing people from Medicaid rolls, which had been put in place during the COVID-19 outbreak.

Public health advocates have questioned how carefully state health departments are clearing their rolls.

Texas has seen some of the highest rates of disenrollment in the country, with approximately 1.8 million people losing coverage since last April. Last year, whistleblowers from Texas Health and Human Services wrote a letter to Texas Health Commissioner Cecile Young warning that 80,000 people had erroneously lost Medicaid coverage because of a computer error, including several thousand pregnant women.

Coverage was later restored to those and other individuals found to have lost coverage incorrectly, but attorneys with the National Health Law Program complained to Khan last month that Deloitte had been aware of the problems with its automated software for several years but had yet to “take meaningful steps to mitigate the same harms to consumers in Texas who must rely on (the software) to access essential Medicaid benefits.”

A spokesperson for Texas Health and Human Services said the agency was aware of the allegations against Deloitte.

“When HHSC identifies any issues, we work systematically to resolve them and reinstate recipients’ coverage if necessary. We will continue to implement immediate strategies to ensure that the redetermination process operates as smoothly as possible,” the spokesperson wrote in an email.

Democratic Reps. Al Green of Houston, Marc Veasey of Fort Worth and Joaquin Castro of San Antonio, also signed onto the letter.