Gov. Asa Hutchinson announced today that the state would hire seven more people to search for improperly paid Medicaid.

He said in a release that Arkansas recovers about .04 percent of its spending, or about $2.1 million a year, and other states recover much more — .44 percent in Arizona for example.

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This new Payment Integrity Unit will focus on prevention and recoveries by utilizing data analytics and industry best practices to identify systemic sources of waste. DHS and OMIG will then collaborate on correcting the existing policies, new training for DHS and provider staff, and addressing shortcomings in the current claim processing procedures. 

The state will add five jobs at the Department of Human Services and two at the office of Medicaid inspector general.

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