Allow me to mourn one of my favorite bills filed this session that died. Senate Bill 5258 would have taken steps suggested by the Democratic state auditor to prevent the doubling-up of Medicaid payments, saving taxpayers money and ending services for no one.

In an October report, “Examining Washington’s Concurrent Medicaid Enrollments,” the State Auditor’s Office (SAO) reported finding millions of taxpayer dollars wasted each year by paying a premium for a state Medicaid client who is also a Medicaid client in another state. The report says, “On average, Washington paid $8.6 million a year on unnecessary premiums for clients residing in just seven states reviewed, with even more costs nationwide.”  If $8.6 million represents the unnecessary payments in just seven states, bringing in the other 42 states could mean around $60 million is wasted each year. 

Concurrent payments can happen when someone moves from one state without discontinuing their Medicaid coverage and then signs up for Medicaid in a new state of residence. There is no benefit to the Medicaid client when two states pay for two policies and only one policy is needed. 

Sen. Chris Gildon, R-Puyallup, sponsored SB 5258 to implement the auditor’s recommendations for reducing the number of improper payments. I thought paying premiums that didn't bring clients any benefit was one of the first places for savings that would inspire enthusiastic, unanimous, bipartisan support. It didn’t. 

Despite a lot of support, opposition to the bill included the tired and off-base argument that it would hurt people in need and the false argument that the savings would be insignificant. 

Insignificant to whom? In a state that needs to cut billions from its budget because it overspent, this money is significant. Even if the budget wasn't in trouble, and even if the potential savings would be less than thought because the period the audit examined was when Medicaid redeterminations weren’t happening, it would still be significant. We know concurrent payments are a problem nationwide and that they waste taxpayer dollars. State Auditor Pat McCarthy explained, “Just as a leaking faucet results in the loss of water for no gain to the homeowner, concurrent enrollment results in additional costs to taxpayers without a benefit to the people served by Medicaid.” 

I asked the auditor’s office what the next step is since the bill did not move past its needed committee approval this session. Adam Wilson from SAO told me, “It’s our view that our audit continues to have value at both national and state levels. As you know, concurrent enrollment occurs across the country.” He continued, “We joined with Oregon and other states to document the local costs of concurrent enrollment so that information could be used at the federal level to truly improve the efficiency of Medicaid nationwide. That being said, Washington state agencies can take some steps on their own to reduce concurrent enrollment, and we are hopeful they will do so.”

I hope so, too. State agencies should prove to everyone that they don’t need a law to do what they can to save Washington state taxpayers millions of dollars each year.