Federal Social Programs Administration

The Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General released a nationwide audit on Dec. 23, 2025 finding that Medicaid managed-care programs paid more than $207.5 million between July 2021 and July 2022 on behalf of people who were already dead, highlighting longstanding data‑matching failures across multiple states. The report urges greater federal sharing of the Social Security Administration’s Full Death Master File and notes a new requirement in Republicans’ One Big Beautiful Bill that, starting in 2027, will force state Medicaid agencies to quarterly audit their provider and beneficiary lists against that database to clamp down on improper payments.