New Warnock Report Details How Errors in State Medicaid Systems Threaten Health Care Access and Increase Taxpayer Costs

Senators Reverend Raphael Warnock, Ron Wyden, and Elizabeth Warren detail how delays and errors in state Medicaid eligibility systems lead to loss of health care coverage and higher costs for American taxpayers

The new report examines the role of private contractors, including Deloitte, which manages Georgia's Medicaid eligibility system, in administering systems plagued by costly errors and implementation delays

New Medicaid work reporting requirements enacted by Congressional Republicans in the One Big Beautiful Bill and taking effect in January 2027 could compound existing system errors and put even more Americans at risk of losing health care coverage

In October 2025, Senators Warnock, Wyden, Sanders, and Warren opened an investigation into five large contractors that build and maintain Medicaid management systems across the country

Senator Reverend Warnock, Wyden, Warren: "Medicaid enrollees will face a two-pronged threat to coverage: the draconian requirements of the OBBBA itself, and the shoddy performance record of the contractors processing new mountains of paperwork"

Washington, D.C. - Today, U.S. Senators Reverend Raphael Warnock (D-GA), Ranking Member of the Finance Subcommittee on Trade, Customs, and Global Competitiveness, Ron Wyden (D-OR), Ranking Member of the Senate Finance Committee, and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) released a new report detailing how delays and errors in state Medicaid eligibility systems lead to the loss of health care coverage and higher costs for American taxpayers. The report follows an October 2025 investigation by Senators Warnock, Wyden, Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), and Bernie Sanders (I-VT) into five of the nation's largest contractors that build and maintain Medicaid management systems across the country.

The report warns that new work reporting requirements under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA), taking effect in January 2027, could compound existing errors in these systems and put even more Americans at risk of losing health care coverage.

"The core concern of this investigation is that a small handful of companies-some whose technology has a history of grievous errors-will be in charge of implementing historically harsh Medicaid work reporting requirements that never should have been enacted in the first place," said Senators Warnock, Wyden, and Warren. "Medicaid enrollees will face a two-pronged threat to coverage: the draconian requirements of the OBBBA itself, and the shoddy performance record of the contractors processing new mountains of paperwork."

Medicaid is a cornerstone of the U.S. health care system, providing health insurance coverage to more than one in five Americans. The program covers 40% of U.S. births, provides 20% of all hospital funding, and is the single largest payer of long-term services and supports, including nursing home care. For years, thousands of eligible Medicaid beneficiaries have erroneously been denied or stripped of their Medicaid coverage due to errors in contractors' eligibility systems. Georgia offers a particularly revealing example of the challenges associated with these systems.

In Georgia, Deloitte, one of the private contractors examined in the Senators' investigation, manages the state's Medicaid eligibility system and serves as a primary consultant for Governor Brian Kemp's Georgia Pathways to Coverage program. According to the Government Accountability Office (GAO), Georgia spent more than twice as much administering Pathways as it did providing health care benefits to enrollees, spending over $54 million on administration costs compared to roughly $26 million on medical care.

Senator Warnock is a leading proponent of Medicaid expansion and has long championed efforts to increase Georgians' access to affordable health care. Last year, he released a report titled "Healthy People, Healthy Economy," which found that investing in Medicaid stimulates economic growth and promotes access to employment. In June, Senator Warnock forced a vote pushing for the release of data surrounding Medicaid coverage loss nationwide. Senator Warnock's effort to release the data was blocked by Senate Republicans.

A copy of the report can be found HERE.

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