OIG: Utah's Medicaid Control Unit Did Not Meet Performance Standards

HHS' Office of the Inspector General has released the results from its onsite review of Utah's Medicaid Control Unit that revealed the unit was not meeting performance standards.

The OIG found the Utah's control unit failed to meet the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit performance standards in the following ways:

1. Case files lacked documentation. The Medicaid Fraud Control Unit performance standards require unit supervisors to approve the opening and closing of all cases. This rule is in place to allow supervisors to efficiently manage case flow and case progress. The OIG found 39 percent of Utah's control unit case files from 2010 to 2012 lacked supervisory approval to either open or close the case.

The performance standards also require supervisory reviews to be conducted of the unit's case files, and require the review to be noted in the case file or in the electronic case file tracking system. The OIG found 60 percent of Utah's control unit case files from 2010 to 2012 did not have documentation of periodic reviews in the case file or in the electronic case file tracking system.

2. All convicted individuals were not referred to the OIG. The Medicaid Fraud Control Unit performance standards require state fraud units to inform OIG of any individuals convicted of Medicaid fraud within their state within 30 days of the conviction for the purpose of program exclusion. OIG found Utah's control unit had failed to report three convicted individuals to OIG for program exclusion within the appropriate time frame from 2010 to 2012.

3. Unit manual was not up-to-date.  The performance standards require all Medicaid fraud units to have their up-to-date policies and procedures included in a manual. OIG found Utah's control unit manual did not include the unit's procedures for case file review, documenting supervisory approval to open and close cases and documenting periodic reviews of case files.

4. Adverse actions weren't appropriately reported. Federal regulations and the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit performance standards require state Medicaid fraud units to report all adverse actions taken as a result of investigations or prosecutions of healthcare providers to the National Practitioner Data Bank. The OIG found Utah's control unit was not registered with the NPDB, and it had not reported any adverse actions to the NPDB from 2010 to 2012.   

More Articles on Medicaid Fraud:

Physicians Still Receive Medicare Payments Even After Being Banned From Government Programs 
8 Recent Legislative Developments Affecting Physicians 
Penalties for Medicaid Fraud Enhanced in Kansas 

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