Mark Pinsley, the Lehigh County Controller and Democratic nominee for Pennsylvania Senate District 16, has found money for Lehigh County taxpayers three ways:
- Prescription drugs: the rebid he pushed for saved $3 million in its first year, according to the County Executive.
- Health care: he identified about $4 million a year more in potential savings in the county’s health plan.
- Billing errors and missed revenue: his audits flagged about $1.2 million in one-time findings. At least $312,310.10 has been recovered or collected, including $115,425.51 in back rent paid by HSI, a division of ICE, after he found it hadn’t paid for 38 months.
Here’s the full list, with the report for each.
Money saved: prescription drugs
In January 2021, his audit found the county overpaying for employee prescriptions and identified more than $1.4 million in possible savings. He pushed for a competitive rebid, and a new, more transparent provider took over in January 2022.
The County Executive said the rebid saved $3 million in its first year, and the county’s 2024 audit found the cost per person on the plan fell 25%, from $2,050 to $1,530. (WFMZ, October 2022 · 21-02 · 24-25)
Savings identified: the county’s health plan
His 2022 audit found the county’s health plan paying hospitals more than their own posted cash prices, and identified about $4 million a year in potential savings by paying based on Medicare rates instead. In 2025, two more providers estimated $2.9 million to $3.4 million a year. The county has not made the change. (22-16 · Lehigh Valley Public Media, October 2022 · July 2025 memo)
One-time findings
| What he found | How much | What happened |
|---|---|---|
| Health claims billed by mistake | $106,000 | Recovered |
| Overpaid commissions | $44,000 | Recovered |
| Jail medical vendor billing errors | $46,884.59 | Recovered — confirmed in writing by the vendor (25-07) |
| More recoveries from the same health claims audit | $63,000 agreed, $81,000 disputed, $143,000 not pursued | Partly paid back |
| Unpaid resident bills at the county nursing home, likely to be written off | $450,000+ | Identified. He audited it two more times until billing was fixed (20-01) |
| A federal agency using county office space for 38 months without paying | $115,425.51 | The county issued a notice to vacate, and the rent was paid |
| Payroll charged to Brookview housing at double the hours reported | $115,688 | Identified |
| Rent lost to empty units at the county’s two housing properties | $28,000 to $77,000 | Identified (22-21 · 23-09) |
Recovered or collected: $312,310.10, including $115,425.51 in back rent from HSI.(City & State Pennsylvania · CBS News Philadelphia)
This is a floor, not a total
This list only counts findings with a dollar amount attached. Most of what a controller finds isn’t measured in dollars — a missing safeguard, a rule not followed, a contract nobody bid out. None of that is counted here.
And all of this is from one county, which collects about $114 million a year in property taxes.
Why an auditor wants to go to Harrisburg
Pennsylvania’s 2025-2026 state budget is $50.1 billion. (PA.gov)
Most of what Pinsley found in Lehigh County wasn’t hidden. A contract nobody had bid out. A health plan paying more than the cash price. Rent nobody collected. It was there because checking was nobody’s job.
A state senator can’t audit the state — that’s the Auditor General. But a senator can write the rules that make sure someone checks:
- Require competitive bidding, so contracts don’t just roll over.
- Keep bidding open and free of conflicts, so brokers paid by the bidders don’t help pick the winner, and bids for public contracts are published.
- Require price transparency from hospitals, insurers, drug companies and pharmacy benefit managers.
- Attach real conditions to public money, so subsidies and tax breaks come with benefits the public can collect.
- Use the state’s buying power on prescription drugs. Lehigh County’s rebid saved $3 million in its first year; the state buys drugs for Medicaid, state workers and prisons.
Serial’s The Preventionist, from The New York Times, has said his audits “have saved the county and its taxpayers millions.”
District 16 covers parts of Lehigh and Bucks counties. The general election is November 3, 2026.
