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Committee adopts amendment and re-refers Medicaid anti-fraud bill to finance committee
Summary
The committee adopted an A2 amendment to House File 2,354 (the MAP Act) clarifying mental state and penalty aggregation language, and voted to re‑refer the bill to the State Government Finance and Policy Committee after testimony from the Attorney General's Medicaid fraud unit.
Representative Norris presented House File 2,354, known in testimony as the MAP Act, and the committee adopted the A2 amendment before re‑referring the bill to the State Government Finance and Policy Committee.
Nick Wonka, director of the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit in the Attorney General's office, told the committee the amendment clarifies criminal mental-state language and aligns penalty language with existing theft statutes: "With the MAP Act, we are seeking to align penalties for offenders who steal taxpayer dollars from the Medicaid program with those offenders who steal from any other source." Wonka said the amendment also makes technical changes so penalties can apply when false claims are submitted rather than waiting for reimbursement to be paid.
Members discussed unit size and funding. The Attorney General's unit currently reported 32 investigators and prosecutors and requested nine additional positions to reach a staff of 41; Wonka said the federal grant would cover 75% of the added positions with a 25% state match. The unit reported charging 58 provider fraud cases last year and cited previous convictions and civil recoveries; Representative Norris noted a recent audit and figures showing the unit's recoveries.
After discussion, the committee adopted the A2 amendment by voice vote and approved re‑referral of the bill to State Government Finance and Policy by voice vote.
Ending: The MAP Act will be considered next by the State Government Finance and Policy Committee; members flagged federal matching funds and staff increases as implementation issues to track.
