AUSTIN – The House Select Committee on State Health Care Expenditures passed a medical assistance identification card program that will reduce fraud statewide and protect the rights of Medicaid and CHIP patients. The "smart card" contains biometric identifiers that verify a patient is who they claim to be.

House Bill 3485 establishes a "smart card" that would be used to identify Medicaid benefits recipients. The card will reduce fraud not only by those improperly claiming benefits, but among doctors who misuse the system. While the majority of Medicaid patients and Medicaid doctors have never had complaints of fraud against them, a small minority have a large impact on the program. The estimates from the Legislative Budget Board state that the fraud prevention alone will cover the cost of new scanning machines.

"This bill will do for Medicaid what the Lonestar Card did for our food stamp program," Delisi said. "It will not simply reduce fraud, it will bring accountability to the state’s largest health care program. This will save money, but more importantly, it will improve public trust in the Medicaid program."

The committee also passed a bill by Delisi to allow nursing home residents on medical assistance to use the state’s Medical Transportation Program. Currently, such residents cannot use the program, and must travel via ambulance to hospitals or medical clinics for routine treatment. The average cost of transportation via ambulance is $46,500 per patient per year. The average cost under the Medical Transportation Program is only $5,600 per patient per year.

"This bill will save the state money and provide better access to transportation for elderly recipients of Medicaid," Delisi said. "It is not good public policy to require an ambulance to transport a patient for a routine check-up."