Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost
Sixth state settles with Medicaid contractor
New Hampshire became the sixth state to announce a settlement with a Medicaid managed-care company that Ohio first accused of ripping off taxpayers. In a statement last week, New Hampshire Attorney General John M. Formella said that St. Louis-based Centene had agreed to pay the state $21.1 million to settle state claims that Centene overbilled […]
CEO of health company accused of bilking Ohio taxpayers stepping down
Six months after setting aside $1.25 billion to settle fraud claims with Ohio and 21 other states, the CEO of the nation’s largest Medicaid managed-care company has announced his retirement. Despite the scandal, Ohio continues to contract with the company. And although Centene denies it’s the case, the problems might have played into the CEO’s […]
Medicaid giant settles with fifth state
Centene, the nation’s largest Medicaid managed-care provider, has settled fraud allegations with a fifth state, Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt announced Monday. The $27.6 million Kansas settlement comes after Mississippi, Illinois and Arkansas announced settlements totaling $154 million. All of those follow a settlement with Ohio — the only state to actually sue the company […]
Centene prison-health subsidiary overcomes claims in Missouri
The company providing health care to Missouri prisoners failed to prove a competitor misled state purchasing officers to win the $1.4 billion contract, Cole County Circuit Judge Daniel Green ruled Thursday. Corizon Health, which has been the state’s vendor for prisoner medical needs since 1992, accused the state Purchasing Division of giving the contract to […]
Medicaid department mum on contacts with DeWine-connected lobbyist
A close, long-standing friend of Gov. Mike DeWine registered early this year to lobby on behalf of a giant Medicaid provider — just before Attorney General Dave Yost accused the company of ripping off tens of millions of taxpayer dollars. The company, St. Louis-based Centene, later agreed to pay out $88 million to Ohio and […]
Vaccine mandates have overwhelming support among Ohio economists
Vaccine mandates in hospitals, long-term care facilities and large companies might be controversial in some circles. But among Ohio economists, support appears to be overwhelming. In fact, according to a survey last week of a 25-member panel of university economists, that support was nearly unanimous. In the face of a surging coronavirus variant, President Joe […]
Ohio AG claims Biden coronavirus mandate is illegal, but he won’t get into specifics
Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost insists that President Joe Biden’s new coronavirus order is illegal, arguing that Biden is claiming “monarchical” powers. But Yost’s office didn’t respond when asked to address the fact that the biggest part of Biden’s as-yet-undrafted order will be made under a law passed by Congress in 1970. And in arguing […]
As child COVID toll mounts, governor says legislature has tied his hands
Gov. Mike DeWine on Tuesday blamed Republican lawmakers for his inability to take stronger action against a surge in coronavirus cases — particularly among children. But he wouldn’t say they shared blame for a crisis that is putting children and adults on ventilators and straining hospital capacity across the state. And despite saying he’d like […]
Ohio AG Yost joins another national lawsuit, this time to overturn LGBTQ protections
Joining 19 other state attorneys general, Ohio’s Dave Yost has jumped in on a lawsuit demanding that sexual orientation and gender identity not be included in discrimination protections. The complaint, filed in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee, argues “administrative agencies,” in this case the Biden administration, don’t have the power to […]
How info likely leading to massive settlement almost stayed hidden
It seems to be an object lesson in the importance of government transparency. Revelations that quite possibly led to a lawsuit and a billion-dollar settlement by the nation’s largest Medicaid managed-care provider almost never came to light, according to court documents filed last month. Meanwhile, huge drug middlemen are fighting to keep sealed damning information […]
Ohio Medicaid chief dodges when asked to explain business with company AG said “fleeced” taxpayers
Ohio Medicaid Director Maureen Corcoran didn’t give many straight answers Wednesday when she was pressed about why her agency restarted a massive contract with a company that earlier this year was accused of “fleecing” taxpayers out of tens of millions of dollars. At one point, Corcoran even invoked lawyer-client privilege to avoid answering a question. […]
Dreamland revisited: County featured in bestselling opioid crisis book lone holdout in settlement
Scioto County featured prominently in the story of the opioid addiction epidemic that has devastated hundreds of cities and towns across the United States. Its Dreamland Pool in Portsmouth was used to illustrate a hinge point in the evolution and depths of the crisis in Sam Quinones’ National Book Critics Award-winning, “Dreamland: The True Tales […]