The Department of Human Services is hiring businessman John Parke to lead its new Medicaid Payment Integrity Unit.
According to department spokeswoman, Amy Webb, the unit is meant to prevent instances of waste and fraud to save money for the state.
“The goal is to prevent abuse of Medicaid funds. So they'll look at policies and see if there are policies that can be made stronger,” she said.
John Parke is a former data analyst. 900,000 Arkansans received Medicaid in 2014, up 16 percent from 2013.