Department of Health and Human Services

Office of Inspector General -- AUDIT

Complete Text of Report is available in PDF format (823 kb). Copies can also be obtained by contacting the Office of Public Affairs at 202-619-1343.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:

In a follow-up audit of Washington State’s Medicaid drug rebate program, we found that the State had implemented the recommendations from our prior audit that related to establishing (1) formal policies and procedures for its drug rebate program and (2) internal controls for segregation of duties and updating of subsidiary ledger accounts.  However, the State had not fully implemented the recommendations related to management oversight over account adjustments and writeoffs, interest verification, and dispute resolution.  In addition, the State had established controls over and accountability for collecting rebates on single-source drugs administered by physicians.  Manufacturers may make their outpatient drugs eligible for Federal Medicaid funding by entering into a rebate agreement with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and paying quarterly rebates to the States.   

We reiterated our recommendations that the State implement internal controls for management oversight over account adjustments and writeoffs, accrue interest to verify the accuracy of interest payments received, and actively work to resolve manufacturer disputes.  The State described the status of actions taken on our recommendations.