May. 30, 2024
WILLIAMSPORT—Yesterday, Rep. Joe Hamm (R- Lycoming/Sullivan) and the House Republican Policy Committee, led by Chairman Josh Kail (R-Beaver/Washington), convened the first in a series of hearings to discuss ways to safeguard Pennsylvania’s social benefit programs from fraud, waste and abuse, and to ensure the state’s resources are efficiently allocated and accessible to those who truly require assistance.
The hearing, “Excellence in Government: Preserving Benefit Integrity,” featured testifiers Sam Adolphsen, policy director, Foundation for Government Accountability, and Roy Lenardson, state government affairs director, Foundation for Government Accountability. The testifiers provided insight into the fraud taking place in Pennsylvania’s Medicaid, SNAP and unemployment insurance programs, and emphasized that program benefit integrity starts with holding government accountable.
“It is startling that 43% of Pennsylvanians receiving Medicaid are able-bodied adults, and at the same time, there are 14,000 Pennsylvanians truly in need on the Medicaid waiting list,” said Hamm. “We must hold the government accountable and preserve benefit integrity with the ultimate goal of getting our people to the best position possible, not dependent upon government.”
“It is important that we, as legislators, inspire hope for Pennsylvanians and part of that is demanding excellence in government,” said Kail. “We, the Legislature, need to hold government programs accountable for two reasons. First, because it’s not our money – it’s taxpayer dollars, and second, when there is no accountability, it becomes an unmanageable system. Excellence in government means the government works for Pennsylvanians in an efficient and effective manner.”
To watch the complete hearing, visit
pagoppolicy.com/video/policy.
The next hearings will be hosted today by Rep. Brian Smith (R-Jefferson/Indiana) at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, Punxsutawney Campus, Room 223,
1012 Winslow St., Punxsutawney, and on June 5 in Harrisburg.