Gross: Auditor's Medicaid Report Confirms Years of Mismanagement; Taxpayers and Vulnerable Ohioans Deserve Better

State Representative Jennifer Gross (R-West Chester), Chair of the House Medicaid Committee, today responded to the Ohio Auditor of State’s performance audit of the Department of Medicaid’s Next Generation modernization effort.

“This report confirms what we have been saying for years: Ohio’s Medicaid program is too big, too expensive, and too poorly managed,” said Rep. Gross. “Medicaid consumes nearly half of our state operating budget, more than $40 billion a year, yet the Department operates without basic strategic plans, with a ‘culture of compliance’ instead of a culture of results, and with contract overruns exceeding $145 million in just the sample reviewed. That is unacceptable.”

The audit, required by the biennial budget - House Bill 96 - found nonexistent strategic and operational planning, functional silos, inadequate contract oversight, minimal quality control on eligibility determinations, and weak coordination with county agencies. These failures compound earlier Auditor findings of payments to ineligible and deceased recipients, multi-state concurrent enrollments, and hundreds of millions to billions in unsupported or improper claims.

“Every dollar wasted on ineligible recipients, poor contract management, or bureaucratic inefficiency is a dollar taken from the truly needy: our seniors, people with disabilities, and low-income families who depend on this program, and from hardworking taxpayers,” Gross continued. “As Chair of the House Medicaid Committee, I led the first phase of our Medicaid fraud and integrity reforms. This audit shows we must move aggressively into the next phase: stronger eligibility verification, real performance metrics focused on outcomes rather than checkbox compliance, tighter vendor accountability, and better coordination so benefits go only to those who qualify under the law.”

Gross noted that with a new administration taking office in 2027 and continued federal focus under President Trump and Vice President Vance on protecting taxpayers and rooting out waste, Ohio has a clear opportunity to implement the Auditor’s recommendations and deliver a leaner, more accountable Medicaid program.

“Ohioans expect us to be good stewards of their money. We will continue working with Auditor Faber, the Attorney General, and our colleagues to ensure Medicaid serves its intended purpose: helping those who truly cannot help themselves, without becoming an open-ended drain on the state budget,” Gross concluded.