Rep. Dovilla Releases Statement Regarding Interim Audit Findings on Ohio Medicaid

State Representative Mike Dovilla (R-Berea) today released the following statement in response to the release of an interim report on a statutorily required audit of Ohio’s Medicaid system by Ohio Auditor of State Keith Faber:

“Predictably but regrettably, the findings in the Auditor’s interim report on Ohio’s Medicaid programs for the Aged, Blind and Disabled (ABD) population are damning. They bear out indications from the initial evidence that led to my investigation of the Medicaid program starting in April 2025 and resulted in my audit legislation (H.B. 356) being included in the conference committee report on the biennial operating budget (H.B. 96).

Although this interim report presents findings on only a sample of the entire ABD population, we can now state a few things with certainty:

• Millionaires shouldn’t be on Medicaid, but they are.
• Ineligible people shouldn’t be on Medicaid, but they are.
• Dead people shouldn’t be on Medicaid, but they are.

Whether through fraud, waste, or abuse, Ohioans who are truly in need have these critical resources diverted from them. And Ohio taxpayers who expect their hard-earned dollars to be used responsibly are being robbed blind.

I call upon the Auditor to make referrals to the Attorney General to prosecute any crimes related to these findings and to claw back any dollars inappropriately disbursed to ineligible recipients or, at this point, their estates. And I renew my request that the Ohio Department of Medicaid and county departments of job and family services perform their duties with greater scrutiny to ensure Ohio taxpayers’ dollars are protected.”