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Senate committee approves reappointment of Medicaid Inspector General Steve Anderson
Summary
The Senate Public Health and Welfare Committee approved the reappointment of Steve Anderson as Medicaid Inspector General after questioning about the office’s resources, investigations and oversight of managed care organizations.
The Senate Public Health and Welfare Committee approved the reappointment of Steve Anderson as Inspector General for Medicaid at a committee meeting; the committee advanced his nomination by voice vote on the consent calendar.
Anderson, who said he was appointed by former Attorney General Derek Schmidt and reappointed by Attorney General Chris Kobach, told the committee his office focuses on audits and investigations of Medicaid eligibility, managed care organizations (MCOs) and other contractors. He said his office has opened hundreds of investigations and identified program savings and overpayments.
Why it matters: The Inspector General’s office audits and investigates how state Medicaid dollars are spent and refers cases for recovery or prosecution. Committee members pressed Anderson about the office’s staffing and its role alongside state agencies that also investigate fraud.
Committee discussion and testimony focused on the office’s scope, findings and resources. Senator Erickson said he has worked with Anderson and “I support his renomination wholeheartedly.” Anderson said the office has pursued areas the federal auditors do not and that his unit can expand investigations with more resources: “We could easily open 200 or 300 more cases if I had the resources.” He also told the committee, “I have 2 special agents and 1 investigator and an analyst right now doing all those.”
Anderson described ongoing and planned audits of managed care organizations, including a review of how MCOs process prior authorizations for hospital stays. He told the committee his office would welcome referrals from legislators: “If you're aware of a situation that would be useful for us to look at, we'd be happy to address it with you.”
Several senators offered support and also cautioned against expanding investigative roles that duplicate existing agency work. Senator Petty said he does not see the necessity of expanding investigations beyond existing departmental capacity, arguing that departments already have investigators and investigative authority. Anderson and supporters countered that prior to his office’s recent work, Medicaid eligibility investigations were not being pursued by KDHE and that some problems have gone undetected: “Nobody was doing investigations of Medicaid eligibility prior to my office starting that a year and a half ago,” Anderson said.
Committee action: Senator Erickson moved to approve the reappointment and Senator Clifford seconded. The committee approved the nomination on consent by voice vote; no roll-call tally was recorded in the hearing transcript.
The committee then proceeded to a separate bill hearing on House Bill 2,068.
