Utah’s Medicaid watchdog has ‘poor governance’ and ‘lack of transparency,’ audit finds

SALT LAKE CITY — A new report found multiple failures within the Utah office tasked with overseeing and identifying fraud in the state’s Medicaid system and says leadership “has not made adequate effort to improve” since a similar audit in 2018.

Leadership of the Office of the Inspector General of Medicaid Services, or OIG, has “been delinquent in fulfilling its duties,” the office has provided “insufficient oversight” of some care organizations and had “inconsistent” practices and “some low performance outcomes,” according to a 46-page audit presented to state lawmakers Thursday.

The report states that the agency has struggled with “poor governance, ineffective leadership and a lack of transparency and accountability,” and has “failed to improve” performance despite previous recommendat