Thousands of Ineligible People Might Be Enrolled in Washington, D.C., No-Cost Health Care Program, According to Draft Audit Report

Thousands of ineligible people might have received no-cost health benefits through the Washington, D.C., Healthcare Alliance, according to a late draft of an audit, the Washington Examiner reports. The $129 million program provides no-cost health care for district residents who do not qualify for other public health programs. Enrollment in the program increased from 34,907 in June 2006 to 46,490 in November 2007. However, the audit found, "There is a risk that applicants may misrepresent facts to obtain eligibility and the misrepresentation may go undetected."

According to the audit:

• The district's Income Maintenance Administration, which administers the program, does not verify driver's licenses, income, addresses, alien registration numbers or assets of applicants;
  
  
• 11 district addresses, not including homeless shelters, accounted for 271 beneficiaries, and another 216 addresses accounted for 1,866 beneficiaries, which auditors said could be evidence that the locations are being fraudulently used to gain enrollment in the program; and
  
  
• As of November 2007, 166 beneficiaries older than age 65 and 33 older than age 70 were still enrolled in the alliance rather than Medicare.