This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2012, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

Lee Wyckoff, an insurance executive hired last year to root out fraud, waste and abuse in Utah's Medicaid program, was arrested in South Carolina two weeks ago for public intoxication.

Wyckoff, Utah's first Medicaid Inspector General, was spotted at 1 a.m. on April 4 in downtown Columbia "stumbling in traffic," according to a Columbia City Police report. He was there on a work trip.

The 35-year-old smelled like alcohol, had slurred speech and had to be held up, the report says. "[He] could not give any information except his name. He began saying the word 'f—-' very loudly."

His actions drew the attention of patrons at a nearby Sonic restaurant. Officers arrested him and booked him into jail for his safety and the safety of others, the report says.

Wyckoff, who gave police a Colorado address, was released later that morning. He is scheduled to answer to his misdemeanor charge on May 23 in Columbia Municipal court.

Wyckoff was in Columbia for a federally-sponsored, five-day training seminar for Medicaid Program Integrity officers.

He did not immediately respond to calls for comment on Monday.

Intensely private and normally quiet-spoken, Wyckoff was hired last August to monitor Medicaid spending following a string of scathing legislative audits highlighting loose financial controls.

It's a politically sensitive post, tasked with protecting taxpayer funds without alienating the declining number of doctors willing to treat Medicaid patients.

Wyckoff reports to Ron Bigelow, director of the Governor's Office of Planning and Budget. In a prepared statement on Monday Bigelow said, "This issue has only recently come to our attention. Additional information is being gathered and we will allow the proper legal and human resource processes to advance. If action is needed, we will take action."

Wyckoff's background is in the private health insurance industry, most recently working as regional vice president of internal audit for one of the nation's largest insurers, Wellpoint's Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield in Denver, Colo.

Medicaid is a state and federally funded program that provides health insurance to about 230,000 low-income Utahns. Wyckoff is paid $104,582 and oversees more than 20 investigators and support staff. —

Who is Lee Wyckoff?

Utah's first Medicaid inspector general got his start in the private insurance industry. He most recently spent two years as regional vice president of internal audit for one of the nation's largest insurers, Wellpoint's Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield in Denver.

Between 2005 and 2006 he was a senior IT audit consultant for Genworth Financial Inc., a $9 billion insurance carrier in the long-term care, mortgage, retirement and wealth management business. He previously worked at the large auditing firm KPMG.

He earned an accounting degree from Towson University in Baltimore and graduated magna cum laude from Johns Hopkins University with a master of science in engineering and IT.

He enjoys snow skiing, wakeboarding and motorcycles, and lived most recently in Vail, Colo.

For a profile of the Wyckoff — and the job he was hired to do — see http://bit.ly/IgMJcL.