Thousands of ineligible Ohioans enrolled in Medicaid programs

Ohio Auditor's Office

COLUMBUS — Ohioans who do not meet eligibility requirements to receive health care and related assistance continue to receive those benefits, a recent review of the Medicaid program by the Auditor of State’s Office determined.

In fact, 3% of those sampled had resources beyond those allowed, including several people who had more than a million dollars at their disposal. More than 3,000 people who died also continued to have benefits paid on their behalf.

“The Ohio Department of Medicaid continually fails to properly administer these programs,” Auditor of State Keith Faber said. “Every dollar they spend on people who aren’t eligible for public resources is a dollar that’s not helping the truly needy among us.”

The latest findings are part of an interim report released Tuesday that covers Medicaid programs for the Aged, Blind and Disabled (ABD) population. The 2026–27 biennial state budget included provisions requiring the Auditor of State’s Office to review enrollment in those programs to determine whether Ohioans receiving assistance were actually eligible for the support.

The Ohio Department of Medicaid administers about $40 billion in health care and related programming for about 3 million lower-income residents, older adults, individuals with disabilities, pregnant women, infants and children, and others.

State and federal laws include clear eligibility requirements that determine who can receive support.

Among other results, Tuesday’s interim report noted:

Of the 1,500 individuals sampled, 49 (3%) were not eligible to receive ABD benefits, including 25 who did not meet eligibility requirements based on the bank accounts, personal and real property, investments, and other nonexempt resources they owned. A total of $356,541 in benefits was paid on their behalf, an average of $7,000 per individual. The ineligible list included three people who had more than $1 million at their disposal.

A total of 3,172 people among 498,885 people included in the entire ABD population died but were still enrolled in related programs, with nearly $1.8 million in benefits paid on their behalf.
Tuesday’s report attributed some of the issues to the process the Ohio Department of Medicaid uses to determine eligibility for ABD benefits, including infrequent eligibility reviews, outdated versions of applications, and ex parte renewals.

“The taxpayers of this state should not be footing the bill for millionaires and others who have adequate means to pay their own way,” Auditor Faber said. “Time and time again, we’ve identified weaknesses in Ohio Department of Medicaid systems that can lead to fraud, waste and abuse of public resources. The issues we have identified have not been corrected.”

The interim report can be found online at ohioauditor.gov/auditsearch/search.aspx. The Auditor of State’s Office will next complete a review of the remaining Medicaid ABD enrollees to determine the full scope of eligibility issues within the system.