Tort Motor Vehicle Program ensures Medicaid is payer of last resort

In the second quarter of fiscal year 2023, the OIG recovered $1,809,015 as a result of data matches made by a third-party vendor for the Tort Motor Vehicle Program (MVP).

The MVP vendor performs data matching with a national data warehouse where multi-state casualty claims, including car accidents, slip-and-fall accidents, and other accidents, are recorded. The data matching process identifies claims involving Texas Medicaid clients with injuries that are the subject of a settlement with, or judgment against, a liable third party that may be subject to recovery by the state. All matches are then reported to the state, which investigates to determine if the claim may be subject to recovery. If appropriate, the state pursues recovery from the liable third party.

The second quarter of 2023 saw a 79% increase from the $1,012,267 recovered during the same period in fiscal year 2022, an increase MVP administrators explain was possible through vendor outreach and partnerships the vendor has developed with additional insurance carriers. These relationships are used alongside the third-party vendor's data-matching process to identify claims subject to recovery.

The MVP not only allows Medicaid to recover funds when another party is responsible for a client's medical care, but it also ensures the state meets federal requirements that Medicaid funds are expended only when all other financial resources have been used.