Arkansas Medicaid Paid for Services After Beneficiaries’ Death, Audit Says

The Arkansas Medicaid program in fiscal year 2002 apparently paid for medical services for several beneficiaries after their deaths, according to a state audit on how the state spent federal funds in FY 2002, the AP/Memphis Commercial Appeal reports. The audit, which was submitted to the state Legislative Joint Auditing Committee, compared 2002 Medicaid service dates with figures reported by the state Health Department for people who died in the past five years. Auditors found 1,997 instances, totaling $159,896, in which claims were paid for Medicaid services that actually occurred after a beneficiary's death. Auditors said they could not determine the total number of times such instances occurred. Charles Fiser, a field audit supervisor, said that the auditors did not know if the Medicaid payments were cases of fraud or of state officials entering incorrect dates into computers. "There were errors in the Medicaid system, and there were errors in the Health Department data," Fiser said, adding that state officials are working with federal officials to create a better system. Auditors also said that they were unable to determine if state agencies, including Medicaid, correctly reported how much federal money they spent in 2002, the Appeal reports. Jerry Berry, chief financial officer for the state Department of Human Services, said that his agency and the federal officials are working to create a statewide computer system that would work better with individual systems at state agencies, which should be operational next July (AP/Memphis Commercial Appeal, 7/13).