Finding 517120 (2023-003)

US Department of Health and Human Services Passed through the NC Dept. of Health and Human Services Program Name: Medical Assistance Program (Medicaid; Title XIX) AL # 93.778 Finding: 2023-003 Inaccurate Resources Entry SIGNIFICANT DEFICENCY Eligibility Criteria: This is a repeat finding from the immediate previous audit, 2022-001. We examined 60 cases from of a total of 553,427 Medicaid claims from the Medicaid beneficiary report provided by NC Department of Health and Human Services to redetermine eligibility. These findings are being reported with the financial statement audit as it relates to Medicaid administrative cost compliance audit. The County agrees with the finding. See Corrective Action Plan in the following section. Section III. Federal Award Findings and Questioned Costs (Continued) Files should be reviewed internally to ensure proper documentation is in place for eligibility. Workers should be retrained on what files should contain and the importance of complete and accurate record keeping. We recommend that all files include online verifications, documented resources of income and those amounts agree to information in NC FAST. The results found or documentation made in case notes should clearly indicate what actions were performed and the results of those actions. For those certifications/re-certifications there was a chance that information was not properly documented and reconciled to NC FAST and a participant could have been approved for benefits for which they were not eligible. Ineffective record keeping and ineffective case review process, incomplete documentation, and incorrect application of rules for purposes of determining eligibility. There was no known affect to eligibility and there were no known questioned costs. In accordance with Medicaid Manual MA-2230, Medicaid for Aged, Blind and Disabled case records should contain documentation that verifications were done in preparation of the application and these items will agree to reports in the NC FAST system. In this process, the countable resources should be calculated correctly and agree back to the amounts in the NC FAST system. Any items discovered in the verification process should be considered Condition: Questioned Costs: Context: Effect: Identification of a repeat finding: Cause: Recommendation: Views of responsible officials and planned corrective actions: The County agrees with the finding. See Corrective Action Plan in the following section. This is a repeat finding from the immediate previous audit, 2022-002. Section III. Federal Award Findings and Questioned Costs (Continued) We examined 60 cases from of a total of 553,427 Medicaid claims from the Medicaid beneficiary report provided by NC Department of Health and Human Services to redetermine eligibility. These findings are being reported with the financial statement audit as it relates to Medicaid administrative cost compliance audit. There was no known affect to eligibility and there were no known questioned costs. For those certifications/re-certifications there was a chance that information was not properly documented and reconciled to NC FAST and applicants could have been approved for benefits for which they were not eligible. There were 2 errors discovered during our procedures that resources in the county documentation and those same resources contained in NC FAST were not the same amounts or files containing resources were not properly documented to be considered countable or non-countable. Ineffective record keeping and ineffective case review process, incomplete documentation, and incorrect application of rules for purposes of determining eligibility. Files should be reviewed internally to ensure proper documentation is in place for eligibility. Workers should be retrained on what files should contain and the importance of complete and accurate record keeping. We recommend that all files include online verifications, documented resources of income and those amounts agree to information in NC FAST. The results found or documentation made in case notes should clearly indicate what actions were performed and the results of those actions.