In its first year of Medicaid expansion, Kentucky health officials were plagued by a series of accounting errors that resulted in overstating state and federal expenses by more than $500 million, according to an audit released Wednesday.
The report by Democratic Auditor Adam Edelen said the Cabinet for Health and Family Services did not adequately review its finances before reporting them to the state's Finance and Administration Cabinet. While many errors were caught before the state issued its final report, several mistakes did get through, including overstating $500 million in state and federal expenses and overstating federal revenue by $424 million.
In response to the audit, health officials pledged to correct the problems. A cabinet spokeswoman did not immediately return a call for comment. Kentucky was one of 29 states to expand Medicaid under the federal Affordable Care Act.