New Hampshire Officials Should Have Taken Responsibility for Charges Against Business Practices Earlier, Editorial Says

New Hampshire mental health officials have not been upfront about allegedly "less than desirable" practices at four of the state's 10 community mental health centers, a Nashua Telegraph editorial says. Upon his resignation in June, Thomas Keane, outgoing director of New Hampshire's Division of Behavioral Health, charged that the community mental health centers were "finessing the Medicaid system ... to increase operating revenues," but state officials made him "out to be a malcontent who didn't know what he was talking about" (Nashua Telegraph, 8/1). In a June 28 memo, Keane said that the centers billed Medicaid for services not rendered; had "inappropriate access" to state computer programs; billed inappropriate amounts for various services; back-dated Medicaid eligibility, which resulted in additional Medicaid service billings; and exceeded estimated annual cost estimates (Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, 8/1). Donald Shumway, outgoing director of the state Department of Health and Human Services, "appeared unruffled" by Keane's allegations, and other state officials denied the charges. However, a report by an independent consultant and Keane's own testimony during a legislative committee hearing last week made the problems "transparent" and forced state officials to "confront" the charges, the editorial says. Mental health officials "dented the credibility of their organizations" by avoiding the allegations "until the complaints had taken on substance through the consultant's report," the editorial adds, concluding, "The state shouldn't be excused for practices that would be condemned and even prosecuted in the private sector" (Nashua Telegraph, 8/1).