Department of Health and Human Services

Office of Inspector General -- AUDIT

Complete Text of Report is available in PDF format (435 kb). Copies can also be obtained by contacting the Office of Public Affairs at 202-619-1343.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:

The State did not assure that its $61,371,523 ($36,943,979 Federal share) Medicaid claim for the Child Welfare Services program was equal to or less than the limit specified in the State plan.  Without such assurance—supported with auditable documentation—we were unable to express an opinion on the reasonableness of the claim.  The State’s inadequate policies and procedures were the causes of its inability to provide such assurance.  The State had contracted with providers for child welfare services and paid providers on a per child basis.  We conducted this audit at CMS's request.

We recommended that the State (1) work with CMS to determine the allowability of the $61,371,523 ($36,943,979 Federal share) for the audit period of State FYs 2001 through 2003 and all subsequent periods and (2) strengthen policies and procedures to ensure that State plan requirements are followed in submitting future child welfare services claims.  The State agency concurred with our first recommendation and did not directly address our second recommendation.