Andy Beshear Set Out to Make Drug Treatment Widely Available in Kentucky. Fraud and Abuse Followed.

Gov. Andy Beshear loosened Kentucky's Medicaid guardrails in twenty twenty to increase access to addiction treatment during the pandemic. But as ProPublica reported Thursday, the policy led to widespread fraud and skyrocketing spending. Addiction Recovery Care, Kentucky's largest drug treatment provider, reached a sixteen million dollars settlement over Medicaid fraud allegations this week, and its founder was indicted for wire fraud and money laundering. Despite expert warnings that the loosened rules weren't driving the state's overdose decline—other states saw similar improvements without relaxing oversight—spending ballooned to two point three billion dollars by twenty twenty-five. The legislature ultimately passed a bill requiring prior authorization for treatment services; Beshear vetoed it, but Republicans overrode the veto.

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