Invalid SSNs could be creating $5m in questioned Medicaid costs

Clerical errors and failure by government workers to validate Social Security numbers could be costing Virginia’s Medicaid program $5 million annually, a state audit says. The auditor of public accounts found that in one month, the Department of Medical Assistance Services did not receive valid Social Security numbers for 1,350 individuals, which cost the program $426,000.

“We went in and we did a computer match, and we were able to determine, based on that match, how many people had invalid social security numbers,” said Walter Kucharski, the state’s auditor of public accounts.