Finding 1201465 (2025-001)

Material Weakness Repeat Finding
Requirement
E
Questioned Costs
-
Year
2025
Accepted
2026-03-30
Audit: 396035
Organization: Rockingham County (NC)

AI Summary

  • Core Issue: Rockingham County has a significant deficiency in Medicaid eligibility verification, leading to potential improper payments.
  • Impacted Requirements: Noncompliance with federal regulations requiring accurate eligibility verification and documentation as per Medicaid guidelines.
  • Recommended Follow-Up: Enhance internal controls through staff training, establish a formal review process, and improve communication on policy changes.

Finding Text

ROCKINGHAM COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA SCHEDULE OF FINDINGS AND QUESTIONED COSTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED JUNE 30, 2025 Any audit findings disclosed that are required to be reported in accordance with the State Single Audit Implementation Act X yes no Identification of major State programs: Program Name Foster Care and Adoption Cluster Medical Assistance Program State Aid to Airports Program Dollar threshold used to determine a State major program $ 500,000 Auditee qualified as low-risk auditee? yes X no None Reported. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Passed through the NC Department of Health and Human Services Program Name: Medical Assistance Program (Medicaid) AL #: 93.778 Finding: 2025-001 SIGNIFICANT DEFICENCY; NONCOMPLIANCE Eligibility Criteria: Section III. Federal Award Findings and Questioned Costs Section II. Financial Statement Findings Section I. Summary of Auditors' Results Federal regulations under 42 CFR ยง 435.956 require states to verify eligibility factors using electronic data sources where available, and to obtain documentation for unverifiable information. Additionally, the state's Medicaid manual (Aged, Blind and Disabled manual, Family and Children Medicaid manual and the Integrated Policy manual) mandates that all eligibility determinations include crossverification of applicant-provided data against reliable external sources to ensure accuracy and prevent improper payments. 186ROCKINGHAM COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA SCHEDULE OF FINDINGS AND QUESTIONED COSTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED JUNE 30, 2025 Condition: Questioned Costs: Context: Effect: Identification of a repeat finding: Cause: These control deficiencies and noncompliance increase the risk of improper Medicaid payments, potentially resulting in overpayments to ineligible beneficiaries or underpayments to those who qualify. This is a repeat finding from the immediate previous audit, 2024-001 and 2024- 002. Note in FY 2025 Medicaid findings were combined into a single finding. The deficiencies and noncompliance reported above are caused from ineffective record keeping and case review processes due to insufficient training of staff, lack of oversight from management, and/or inadequate communication between departments resulting in inconsistencies in data sharing and delayed information exchanges. There were a total of 10 errors found during our testing procedures: - There were 1 errors where income or household size was incorrectly calculated or inaccurate information was entered into the case file. - There was 1 error where resources were incorrectly calculated or were not properly documented in the case file. - There were 3 errors where applicants/beneficiaries not reviewed timely and determined to be eligible for Medicaid when their SSI benefits were terminated. - There were 5 errors where a redetermination of eligibility was not performed in accordance with program requirements. Due to the nature of the populations provided from which the samples were chosen, we are unable to calculate questioned costs for the above mentioned potential eligibility and noncompliance errors. We examined 60 cases from of a total of 698,591 Medicaid claims from the Medicaid beneficiary report provided by NC Department of Health and Human Services to re-determine eligibility. These findings are being reported with the financial statement audit as it relates to Medicaid administrative cost compliance audit. Section III. Federal Award Findings and Questioned Costs (continued) 187ROCKINGHAM COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA SCHEDULE OF FINDINGS AND QUESTIONED COSTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED JUNE 30, 2025 Recommendation: Views of responsible officials and planned corrective actions: Program Name: Medical Assistance Program (Medicaid) AL #: 93.778 SIGNIFICANT DEFICENCY/NONCOMPLIANCE: Finding 2025-001 also apply to State requirements and State Awards. Section IV. State Award Findings and Questioned Costs Section III. Federal Award Findings and Questioned Costs (continued) We recommend that management enhance internal controls by: (1) Providing comprehensive training to staff on the program's eligibility requirements and procedures outlined in the State's Medicaid manuals; (2) Ensuring that there is a formal internal review process and that it is adequately completed to identify and correct errors and monitor compliance; and (3) Communicating all program or policy changes clearly and timely across all departments who oversee eligibility determinations for federal funded programs. The County agrees with the finding and is implementing actions to correct these issues, which are further discussed in the corrective action plan. 188

Corrective Action Plan

CORRECTIVE ACTION PLAN FOR THE YEAR ENDED JUNE 30, 2025 Finding: 2025-001 Name of contact person: Corrective Action: Proposed Completion Date: Section III โ€“ Federal Award Findings and Questioned Costs All identified cases are being reviewed and corrected to ensure compliance. Supervisors will conduct targeted refresher training on income and resource calculation, SSI termination procedures, and redetermination timeliness and procedures. Regular quality assurance reviews and staff support will continue to ensure sustained compliance and improved accuracy in case processing. Training will be completed by December 15, 2025. Corrective actions for finding 2025-001 also apply to the State Awards findings. Section IV โ€“ State Award Findings and Questioned Costs Lisa Chaney, Nicole Victory and Debbie McGuire - Medicaid Supervisors; Mandy Edwards - Medicaid Manager 189

Categories

Eligibility Internal Control / Segregation of Duties

Programs in Audit

ALN Program Name Expenditures
21.027 CORONAVIRUS STATE AND LOCAL FISCAL RECOVERY FUNDS $13.82M
93.778 GRANTS TO STATES FOR MEDICAID $2.74M
93.658 FOSTER CARE TITLE IV-E $1.40M
10.561 STATE ADMINISTRATIVE MATCHING GRANTS FOR THE SUPPLEMENTAL NUTRITION ASSISTANCE PROGRAM $1.25M
93.558 TEMPORARY ASSISTANCE FOR NEEDY FAMILIES $1.12M
93.563 CHILD SUPPORT SERVICES $1.00M
93.667 SOCIAL SERVICES BLOCK GRANT $637,499
10.557 WIC SPECIAL SUPPLEMENTAL NUTRITION PROGRAM FOR WOMEN, INFANTS, AND CHILDREN $456,236
93.045 SPECIAL PROGRAMS FOR THE AGING, TITLE III, PART C, NUTRITION SERVICES $312,830
93.767 CHILDREN'S HEALTH INSURANCE PROGRAM $167,229
93.596 CHILD CARE MANDATORY AND MATCHING FUNDS OF THE CHILD CARE AND DEVELOPMENT FUND $126,427
66.468 DRINKING WATER STATE REVOLVING FUND $109,730
14.228 COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT BLOCK GRANTS/STATE'S PROGRAM AND NON-ENTITLEMENT GRANTS IN HAWAII $99,189
16.043 VETERANS TREATMENT COURT DISCRETIONARY GRANT PROGRAM $91,876
93.994 MATERNAL AND CHILD HEALTH SERVICES BLOCK GRANT TO THE STATES $90,124
93.568 LOW-INCOME HOME ENERGY ASSISTANCE $82,314
93.659 ADOPTION ASSISTANCE $77,651
16.922 EQUITABLE SHARING PROGRAM $64,864
93.217 FAMILY PLANNING SERVICES $58,637
93.967 CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION COLLABORATION WITH ACADEMIA TO STRENGTHEN PUBLIC HEALTH $58,599
93.044 SPECIAL PROGRAMS FOR THE AGING, TITLE III, PART B, GRANTS FOR SUPPORTIVE SERVICES AND SENIOR CENTERS $52,208
93.053 NUTRITION SERVICES INCENTIVE PROGRAM $45,301
93.556 MARYLEE ALLEN PROMOTING SAFE AND STABLE FAMILIES PROGRAM $43,533
93.268 IMMUNIZATION COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS $43,030
97.042 EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT PERFORMANCE GRANTS $35,000
93.354 PUBLIC HEALTH EMERGENCY RESPONSE: COOPERATIVE AGREEMENT FOR EMERGENCY RESPONSE: PUBLIC HEALTH CRISIS RESPONSE $33,873
93.991 PREVENTIVE HEALTH AND HEALTH SERVICES BLOCK GRANT $30,741
93.645 STEPHANIE TUBBS JONES CHILD WELFARE SERVICES PROGRAM $29,888
93.674 JOHN H. CHAFEE FOSTER CARE PROGRAM FOR SUCCESSFUL TRANSITION TO ADULTHOOD $23,573
93.103 FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION RESEARCH $16,184
16.738 EDWARD BYRNE MEMORIAL JUSTICE ASSISTANCE GRANT PROGRAM $15,666
97.067 HOMELAND SECURITY GRANT PROGRAM $11,866
20.703 INTERAGENCY HAZARDOUS MATERIALS PUBLIC SECTOR TRAINING AND PLANNING GRANTS $10,000
16.606 STATE CRIMINAL ALIEN ASSISTANCE PROGRAM $4,881
16.607 BULLETPROOF VEST PARTNERSHIP PROGRAM $2,841
14.218 COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT BLOCK GRANTS/ENTITLEMENT GRANTS $328
93.917 HIV CARE FORMULA GRANTS $252
93.977 SEXUALLY TRANSMITTED DISEASES (STD) PREVENTION AND CONTROL GRANTS $100
93.116 PROJECT GRANTS AND COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS FOR TUBERCULOSIS CONTROL PROGRAMS $50