California To Pay $2.1M To Resolve Overbilling for Computer System
The California Department of Health Care Services has agreed to repay $2.1 million it collected from CMS for its Medicaid Management Information Systems after an audit by HHS' inspector general's office uncovered billing errors for the IT system, Modern Healthcare reports.
The inspector general's office reviewed claims from July 1, 2003, through June 30, 2005, and found the errors among $183.2 million claimed as the federal portion of the system's operating cost.
The system is used to process claims for Medicaid, as well as other state and federal programs. About $1.9 million of the $2.1 million at issue was paid for functions that benefited several programs but were billed exclusively as Medicaid expenses.
California officials agreed to pay the sum after disputing an initial estimate of $5.6 million in inappropriate payments (Blesch, Modern Healthcare, 3/26).