State DHHS runs afoul of feds
The federal government has issued a second warning to the Maine Department of Health and Human Services, citing the state's poor record keeping of the tens of millions of dollars it receives for Medicaid drug rebates.
The Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services notified the state last month that it has not implemented specific recommendations from a previous federal audit about drug rebates in its quarterly reports, according to Capitol News Service. Last year, Maine received about $100 million in rebates from drug manufacturers for a portion of the cost of the drugs purchased under Medicaid.
Maine DHHS Commissioner Brenda Harvey told the news service that the state compiles all the necessary information required by the feds, but until a new computer system comes online, it cannot easily report the detailed data required. She said the state has better controls in place now than in 2005 when a disastrous systems conversion led to delayed payments to service providers and cost millions in correcting payment errors. Harvey said the new computer system is being tested now and should be operational by spring.
Go to the article from Capitol News Service >>
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