By Harold Sherrell
Buffalo, NY – The Republican candidate for Erie County Comptroller, John Canavan, weighed in Thursday on problems with the state Medicaid program.
According to a recent New York Times report, Medicaid costs the state 18 billion dollars a year in fraudulent and unnecessary expenses.
Canavan said eliminating such fraud and abuse would go a long way toward alleviating Erie County's budget problems.
"Right here in Erie County where Medicaid spending amounts to $1.1 billion dollars per year, there are potential savings of nearly $400,040,000 per year," said Canavan. "Our share of that would be $64 million dollars annually. Recovering these funds would have a huge and positive impact onn Erie County's troubled finances."
Canavan proposed a three-point plan to eliminate waste in the Medicaid system which would include a complete review of the program's current eligibility and claims procedures.