The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Inspector General (OIG) on June 10, 2026, announced a new workplan project focusing on the potential for duplicative payment by Medicaid for covered services in the Veteran’s Administration (VA) Community Care Benefit. Because Medicaid is the payer of last resort, VA should be billed for services where a veteran is dually eligible for VA and Medicaid benefits.

While it is unlikely that provider members receive reimbursement from both programs, it is foreseeable that a provider would select to bill Medicaid instead of VA because of challenges with service authorizations and the VA’s third-party administrators. This creates a challenge for the VA and state Medicaid agencies, though could also have provider-level implications.

We will watch for more from the OIG on this work-plan item.