State Auditor Allison Ball released the second volume of the annual Statewide Single Audit of the Commonwealth of Kentucky (SSWAK II) for Fiscal Year 2025, saying they found more issues in Executive Branch cabinets.
“This audit, once again, represents serious problems the Commonwealth must address to ensure it is protected from waste, fraud, and abuse,” Ball said. “But the hard work of our auditors is paying off, as Kentucky is finally making strides toward completing overdue inspections of nursing homes after our office first brought this issue to light two years ago. This shows that all of the problems uncovered in our report can be fixed by following our recommendations.”
Among the findings:
--The Cabinet for Health and Family Services (CHFS) failed to comply with requirements to keep the public and federal government aware of its spending of Mary Lee Allen Promoting Safe and Stable Families Program funds.
--CHFS failed to ensure that Kentucky’s long-term care facilities received their federally mandated inspections in a timely manner, jeopardizing the health and safety of Kentuckians in those facilities. After being a repeat finding for over three years, CHFS has finally taken steps to rectify the backlog of long-term care facility inspections.
--CHFS did not remove over 330 deceased individuals from Kentucky Medicaid eligibility rolls, failed to ensure that multiple people cannot use the same social security number to obtain benefits and made 844 duplicate payments totaling almost a million dollars.
--The Department for Local Government and Department of Workforce Development failed to submit federally required transparency reports about distribution of federal dollars.
--The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC) failed to monitor payroll submissions of contractors to ensure they are performing the required work and paying federally required wages.
Scottie Ellis, spokesperson for Gov. Andy Beshear, responded: “Volume two is just the latest installment of the auditor continuing to play political games while Gov. Beshear continues to stay focused on moving us forward, together. Just last week, the governor announced that Kentucky has celebrated the best first quarter in our history for economic investment, building on the three best years for economic development and the best year for new wages for our families.
"The Governor has also secured the Commonwealth’s three highest budget surpluses and garnered upgrades from all three major bond rating agencies, while also cutting income and property taxes. His management of the state is delivering positive results so Kentuckians can live better lives.”
The State Capitol in Frankfort. (Kentucky Today/Frank Peer)
