BATON ROUGE — The Louisiana Department of Health is rolling out new oversight measures aimed at strengthening how the state monitors Medicaid providers and protects public funds.

LDH said the initiative includes more frequent reviews of high-risk providers, expanded verification requirements, enhanced data analytics and closer coordination with state and federal program integrity partners.

As part of the effort, LDH will conduct off-cycle reviews of all designated high-risk providers that have not recently gone through revalidation. Certain provider categories identified as higher risk will now be revalidated every three years instead of every five.

High-risk provider categories include durable medical equipment suppliers, home health agencies, hospice providers and personal care services providers, among others identified through state and federal risk assessments.

"Every taxpayer dollar entrusted to Medicaid should be spent on delivering care to Louisianans who need it," said LDH Secretary Bruce D. Greenstein. "The best way to protect taxpayer dollars is to put strong safeguards in place before problems occur. These help ensure Medicaid resources are being used as intended."

LDH said it will also expand verification activities to confirm that providers are properly licensed, actively operating and meeting enrollment requirements. Existing safeguards include site visits, ownership disclosure reviews, exclusion screenings and fingerprint-based criminal background checks for designated high-risk providers.

The department said it will work more closely with the Louisiana Office of Inspector General and other partners to analyze claims data, identify unusual billing patterns and detect potential concerns earlier.

"Strong oversight is a team effort — and independence is what makes it credible," said Angele Davis, Louisiana State Inspector General and Chief Integrity Officer. "By partnering with LDH — pairing tougher verification and high-risk provider revalidation with sharper data analytics — we can root out waste, fraud and abuse and hold bad actors accountable. My office will follow the data wherever it leads, protecting the honest providers who do right by patients every day. And that's accountability Louisiana taxpayers can see."

LDH said it is also aligning with current federal provider enrollment moratoriums for certain high-risk provider categories, including durable medical equipment and home health providers.

"This is a straightforward step that helps ensure providers participating in Medicaid are meeting the standards expected of them," said Louisiana Medicaid Executive Director Seth Gold. "The overwhelming majority of providers are doing the right thing every day. These safeguards help protect beneficiaries, support honest providers and strengthen confidence in the Medicaid program."