When Combating Medicaid Fraud, Listen to People with Disabilities & Families First

Mark Seifarth

This week the Ohio Legislature passed a bill to help combat what they say was out of control Medicaid fraud with a self-imposed deadline on June 10^th. Even though the bill was introduced on March 25, 2026, it was not referred to committee for hearings until May 13^th for completion before the legislature’s summer break starting June 11^th.

In its haste to root out waste, fraud, and abuse, it almost made it illegal for parents and family caregivers – many of whom quit their jobs to stay at home and care for their children with significant disabilities – to bill Medicaid after they pass all needed background checks and training to become certified Medicaid providers.

It was only when the disability community, parents, and advocates traveled from all over Ohio to tell their stories that legislators realized they had moved too quickly. For if you remove thousands of parents as direct service providers for their children with significant disabilities, there are not enough qualified service providers available to replace them. Children and adults with significant disabilities for the most part could be forced into more expensive institutions and intermediate care facilities as a result.

Thanks to statewide advocacy, technology that allows people to watch committee hearings live, read bills and amendments online, send online testimony to the committees, and an accessible Statehouse to testify in person – this did not happen.

It also helps that organizations, like the Ohio Developmental Disabilities Council, provide educational videos to help people with disabilities learn to speak for themselves and express their needs.

Here’s a link to one such video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BZu5W2Qp9sg

Indeed, there is fraud in the Medicaid system. On June 8^th, the Acting U.S. Attorney General came to Ohio with the Medicaid Chief and others to announce a new federal state system to share data and fight “fraudsters.” They also announced several major federal and state charges against 9 defendants for allegedly defrauding the government of $42 million in billing to Medicaid and COVID programs.

In fact, Federal Trade Commission Chair Andrew Ferguson said, “Ohio’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit is one of the gold standard control units.” While state legislators have criticized the governor, the Acting U.S. Attorney General said of Ohio’s governor “… we can have people that actually do and act.” Here is the link to the June 8^th article: https://ohiocapitaljournal.com/2026/06/08/ohio-feds-announce-indictments-in-medicaid-fraud/

To be clear, there is still Medicaid fraud and this bill headed to the governor – for his consideration to be signed into law – may help. But in their haste to pass a bill with a self-imposed deadline of less than one month and only 5 hearings, one could argue that thousands of Ohioans with disabilities were put at risk if the disability community – many with disabilities making it very difficult to travel – had not shown up and spoken up for themselves.

As former Ohio Senate staff, state agency liaison to the Ohio Legislature, and Congressional Liaison for the National Council on Disability in Washington, DC, I know how hard State Legislators, Members of Congress, and their staff people work. I wrote letters/emails to State Legislators, and they responded and investigated the issue.

But my contributions are miniscule next to the parents, advocates, and people with disabilities who drove hours – and I heard even borrowed money for gas and missed needed therapy sessions for their children – to testify in person. Great praise is due to all of them for educating our legislators on the very negative impact on this too quickly moving piece of legislation.

Perhaps as a person with a Developmental Disability, when I was a staffer and saw this legislation, I would have immediately called and inquired of my local Boards of Developmental Disabilities and advocacy groups in the community on the impact to people with disabilities and more information on fraud and abuse. But maybe as fast as this bill was moving, only many, many people across the state could have had the needed impact they did.

We must combat what everyone calls waste, fraud, and abuse of taxpayers’ money as that is hard earned money from Ohioans needed to serve Ohioans. We must be vigilant.

But I have been impacting public policy in Ohio and Washington, DC for over 40 years and I must admit that I am unsettled and disquieted that it took hundreds of Ohioans writing, calling, and traveling to Columbus to testify in person to correct this catastrophic error in the Legislatures’ haste.

Remember Ohio’s Biennial Budget takes at least 6 months to pass and become law. Most legislation takes months and sometimes years to be hashed out and debated. Thanks to education, technology, and hard work, people listened and changes were made.

In the disability community there is an old and hard-fought saying, “Nothing about us without us.” Much of the public testimony presented on this bill centered on people with disabilities, parents, and advocates saying ask us how to improve the system. We are involved as it is our lives. We will and have pointed out fraud and it was addressed.