State Paid Thousands of Dollars to Dead People

If you want to see who received some state benefits back in 2011, you could take a stroll through a local cemetery or even take a look at the obituary pages in the newspaper.

According to a new report from the Auditors of Public Accounts, about $8,000 in state benefits went to people who were dead in 2011. The agency examined 19 beneficiaries at random during the audit and determined that more than half of the 19 were actually dead.

“We found that in two different programs in particular, that people after they were deceased, benefit payments continued to be paid and they didn’t follow up to recoup those payments” said Robert Ward, one of the two main Auditors of Public Accounts.

He estimated that the actual number could be closer to $250,000 if the department examined the Department of Social Services closer.

Ward said there aren’t enough formal checks in place to ensure that money goes where it’s supposed to or to make sure that beneficiaries are even alive.

“They do not have significant internal audit staff that should be looking at these sorts of issues on a regular basis and then addressing the problems.”

Republicans took the news as a way to lobby for more accountability from the state’s social safety net programs like Medicaid.

"The evidence is there now and the state of Connecticut needs to use it” said Rep. Vin Candelora, (R) – Durham.

“I think the audit clearly shows a flagrant disregard to put systems in place to prevent the fraud going forward” he added. “I think what Connecticut needs to do is look at putting a fraud division in place to look at all of our social services."

Ward, who’s office conducted the examination, said simply that the state has to do more to see where the money it doles out is going as a matter of public responsibility.

“I think the public loses faith in government when those things happen and so it’s not only important to address for the public money but also for the public confidence in state programs.”

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