It took the threat of federal penalties to push Gov. Josh Shapiro into taking seriously the issue of SNAP errors in Pennsylvania.

In our opinion the state has a bigger issue with Medicaid fraud – and it shouldn’t take the threat of federal action to get the state to take the fraud problems seriously.

A Commonwealth Foundation released last week said Pennsylvania charged more Medicaid fraud cases than any other state in 2024, with the state Attorney General’s office reporting $11.3 million in Medicaid fraud recoveries and $44 million in fraudulent charges. That same year, Medicaid spending ballooned to nearly $50 billion (including state and federal funds). Since 2018, Medicaid spending has grown by 80%, from $30 billion to $54 billion.

A 2017 report claimed that Pennsylvania could have saved millions of dollars if the state held contracts to certain standards, and a 2024 report found $551 million in Medicaid funds were improperly claimed.

The Commonwealth Foundation said that in July 2025, the Office of Inspector General, housed within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, reported that Pennsylvania made more than $8.7 million in “unallowable capitation payments for enrollees with multiple Medicaid Identification numbers.” In March 2025, Pennsylvania’s Auditor General announced that reporting delays from one Medicaid provider, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Community HealthChoices, cost taxpayers more than $350,00 – $120,000 of which the state couldn’t recover.

Other instances of Medicaid fraud, according to the Commonwealth Foundation include a woman who allegedly stole the identities of overseas Pennsylvanians to bill for nearly $1 million in home care services, a case manager allegedly stole $72,000 by billing for child clients he didn’t see for a year, and an unlicensed therapist who allegedly billed $7,000 for sessions where he sexually exploited patients.

No wonder Sen. Cris Dush, R-Brookville, is sponsoring a resolution asking for a study of the Medicaid program with an eye toward reducing fraud in the program.

The state’s Medicaid fraud problem is not only worth studying, as Dush proposes, but actually tackling before the fraud reaches Minnesota-like proportions or the federal government decides to take punitive action as it proposed doing with SNAP errors.