Finding Text
Criteria: Medicaid for Aged, Blind and Disabled case records should contain documentation that verifications were done in preparation of the application/recertification and these items will agree to reports in the NC FAST system. In this process, documentation should be present and agree back to the records in the NC FAST system. Any items discovered in the process should be considered in regards to a specific eligibility requirement and explained within the documentation.
Condition: There were twenty-four (24) technical errors discovered during our procedures that verifications in the county documentation and the representative data contained in NC FAST were not the same amounts or files containing policy requirements were not properly documented to be considered in compliance with program control requirements. The errors were as follows: Four (4) failed to run the Work Number income verification for all individuals with the potential of earned income, One (1) lacked sufficient documentation, One (1) contained a household composition error, Two (2) had unverified compliance requirements, Two (2) were improperly forced with no supporting documentation, Eleven (11) did not have accurate resource calculations, and Three (3) did not have accurate budget calculations in NC FAST.
Questioned Costs: There was no affect to eligibility and there were no questioned costs.
Context: We examined 138 out of 144,355 Medicaid applicants to re-determine eligibility. These findings were disclosed in a separately issued spreadsheet to the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services and are being reported with the financial statement audit as it relates to Medicaid administrative cost compliance audit.
Effect: For those certifications/re-certifications there was a chance that information was not properly documented and reconciled to NC FAST which affect countable resource or program specific requirements and a participant could have been approved for benefits that they were not eligible.
Identification of a repeat finding: This is a repeat finding from the immediate previous audit, 2023-002.
Cause: Ineffective record keeping and ineffective case review process, incomplete documentation, and incorrect application of rules for purposes of determining eligibility.
Recommendation: 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.
Views of responsible officials and planned corrective actions: The County agrees with the finding. Supervisors will perform second party reviews to ensure proper documentation is contained in files to support eligibility determinations. Workers will be retrained on what information should be maintained in case files, the importance of complete and accurate record keeping, and reserve calculations. The County finance office will also participating in the review process.