Finding 16554 (2022-001)

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Requirement
P
Questioned Costs
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Year
2022
Accepted
2023-09-26
Audit: 22499
Organization: Highmark Health (PA)

AI Summary

  • Core Issue: The Schedule of Expenditures of Federal Awards inaccurately included $18,844,576 in State awards, violating OMB Uniform Guidance.
  • Impacted Requirements: OMB Uniform Guidance 2 CFR 200.510(b) mandates accurate reporting of only Federal awards in the Schedule.
  • Recommended Follow-up: Management should enhance controls for preparing and reviewing the Schedule to ensure accurate reporting of Federal awards.

Finding Text

2022-001: Schedule of Expenditures of Federal Awards Federal Agency: All Federal Program: All Assistance Listing Number: All Federal Award Number: All Federal Award Year: Fiscal year 2021 Pass-through Entity: All Criteria OMB Uniform Guidance 2 CFR 200.510(b) requires that an auditee prepare a schedule of expenditures of Federal awards for the period covered by the auditee's financial statements which must include the total Federal awards expended. Further, it requires that the auditee provide the Federal awards expended for each individual Federal Program. Condition The 2021 schedule of expenditures of Federal awards (the ?Schedule?) prepared by management improperly included the expenditures of State awards of $16,195,894 and $2,648,682 for the Children?s Health Insurance Program passed through from the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services and New York State Department of Health, respectively. Cause Management performs a reconciliation between the Schedule and the consolidated financial statements, however, the reconciliation performed did not effectively ensure that the Schedule was accurate inclusive only Federal awards. Effect The 2021 Schedule was overstated by $18,844,576, which represents the expenditures of State awards improperly included in the Schedule. There was no impact on our 2021 audit scoping for the improper inclusion of these amounts Recommendation Management of Highmark Health should update its controls over the preparation and review of the Schedule with sufficient precision to ensure all Federal awards are reported on the Schedule accurately. Management?s Views and Corrective Action Plan Refer to Management?s Views and Corrective Action Plan at the end of the report.

Corrective Action Plan

Management?s Views and Corrective Action Plan 2022-001: Schedule of Expenditures of Federal Awards All Federal programs Federal Award year: 2021 Management?s Response Management agrees with the finding as it relates to the inclusive of expenditures of State awards. As part of the preparation and review of the schedule of expenditures of federal awards (the ?Schedule?), processes were in place to reconcile total expenditures under the program to the general ledger as well as the consolidated financial statements. In addition, analytical review was performed of variances in expenditures year-over-year, by program, to assess reasonableness of reported expenditures. During review of the 2021 CHIP program expenditures, management reconciled total expenditures to the general ledger and consolidated financial statements without exception, as both the general ledger and consolidated financial statements include total program expenditures (i.e., both federal and state are included). In addition, upon review of variances in total program expenditures in comparison to the previous award year, variances appeared reasonable as they remained relatively consistent year-over-year and with historical data. In fiscal year 2022, management has implemented additional steps into its reconciliation process to bifurcate the total expenditures between Federal and State expenditures prior to agreement to the general ledger and consolidated financial statements to ensure exclusion of State amounts when preparing the Schedule. In addition, within the analytical review process management utilizes the bifurcated totals to assess for reasonableness at the more detailed level regarding year-over-year variances. Anticipated Completion Date Additional reconciliation steps and bifurcation of amounts were implemented during the preparation and review of the 2022 Schedule. Responsible Parties ? Matthew Bazzani, Chief Accounting Officer, Highmark Health

Categories

Subrecipient Monitoring Reporting

Other Findings in this Audit

Programs in Audit

ALN Program Name Expenditures
93.767 Children's Health Insurance Program $5.84M
93.498 Covid-19 Provider Relief Fund ("prf") and American Rescue Plan ("arp") Rural Distribution $1.60M
84.268 Federal Direct Student Loans $1.27M
14.231 Covid-19 Emergency Solutions Grant Program $1.12M
93.918 Grants to Provide Outpatient Early Intervention Services with Respect to Hiv Disease $412,848
84.063 Federal Pell Grant Program $334,846
93.211 Telehealth Programs $293,692
93.247 Advanced Nursing Education Grant Program $231,735
93.959 Covid-19 Block Grants for Prevention and Treatment of Substance Abuse $223,907
84.425 Covid-19 Education Stabilization Fund $216,532
93.846 Arthritis, Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases Research $144,256
93.286 Discovery and Applied Research for Technological Innovations to Improve Human Health $120,912
93.697 Covid-19 Testing and Mitigation for Rural Health Clinics $100,000
93.889 Covid-19 National Bioterrorism Hospital Preparedness Program $93,187
93.121 Oral Diseases and Disorders Research $55,509
93.364 Nursing Student Loans $47,650
93.853 Extramural Research Programs in the Neurosciences and Neurological Disorders $45,105
93.865 Child Health and Human Development Extramural Research $24,347
93.838 Lung Diseases Research $16,825
12.420 Military Medical Research and Development $16,742
84.184 Safe and Drug-Free Schools and Communities_national Programs $15,356
93.350 National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences $14,359
84.007 Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants $13,166
93.847 Diabetes, Digestive, and Kidney Diseases Extramural Research $10,176
93.213 Research and Training in Complementary and Integrative Health $9,830
93.242 Mental Health Research Grants $9,149
93.393 Cancer Cause and Prevention Research $8,903
93.279 Drug Abuse and Addiction Research Programs $7,199
93.243 Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services_projects of Regional and National Significance $4,902
93.395 Cancer Treatment Research $2,750
93.837 Cardiovascular Diseases Research $752
47.041 Engineering Grants $-105
93.394 Cancer Detection and Diagnosis Research $-300