|
Columbus
Dispatch...
Medicaid
won’t be used to pay
guardians for developmentally disabled
By Catherine Candisky
September 1, 2011
The
Ohio Department of Developmental
Disabilities stopped seeking Medicaid funding to pay for protective
services
for thousands of adults after state auditors questioned the agency’s
accounting
for more than $1.3 million in program costs.
To
avoid any interruption in services
for the mentally retarded and disabled, Director John Martin said he is
using
non-Medicaid tax dollars to cover the expense.
“These
are vital services,” he said.
An
audit released by the Department of
Job and Family Services questions the 2009 and 2010 expenditures but
does not
seek repayment of the funds paid to Advocacy & Protective
Services Inc.
“DODD
did not provide adequate
documentation to demonstrate the expenditures, used as a basis for
claiming
Medicaid reimbursement, were for actual and allowable services provided
by
APSI,” auditors wrote.
The
Department of Job and Family
Services oversees Medicaid, the health-care program for the poor and
disabled
funded through state and federal tax dollars. Department spokesman
Benjamin
Johnson said DODD will have an opportunity to submit a more-detailed
accounting
before any decision about repayment is made.
Advocacy
& Protective Services
(APSI) is a private, nonprofit organization based in Columbus that is
under
contract with the developmental-disabilities agency to serve as a
court-appointed legal guardian and trustee for about 4,800 Ohioans with
mental
retardation or other developmental disabilities.
Auditors
are concerned about Medicaid
funds paid to the department after it sought reimbursement of APSI
administrative expenses. Specifically, auditors noted that invoices
showed only
total costs paid APSI and did not include a breakdown for specific
services.
Medicaid,
auditors previously noted,
will reimburse for administrative costs, within limits, if a detailed
accounting is provided to show the expenditures were permissible. Such
documentation
must include a description of the services performed, hours and date
worked,
and a signature of an authorizing agent. In addition, 90 percent of the
expenditures must go to direct services.
Martin
said APSI is paid a set fee to
cover administrative expenses and there are no itemized invoices.
“DODD
provided documentation of
payroll and operation expenses that we believe demonstrate the costs
were
necessary and reasonable to provide required protective services to
individuals
with developmental disabilities,” the developmental-disabilities agency
wrote
in a response included in the audit.
The
department also noted that APSI
guardians are paid an average of $17.19 an hour, and the cost per
individual
served is about $1,079 a year.
“We
feel confident that DODD is
getting a good value for this critical service.”
Read
it at the Columbus Dispatch
|
