New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli announced the following audits and reports were issued during the week ending November 25, 2017
Source: Office of the State Comptroller
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New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli announced the following audits and examinations have been issued:
Office of General Services (OGS) and the State Education Department (SED): Preferred Source Contracting (Follow-Up) (2017-F-15)
New York state’s Preferred Source Program grants “preferred source” status to Corcraft and not-for-profit organizations that serve and employ the blind, severely disabled, and veterans. OGS is the state’s central procurement agency. The New York State Industries for the Disabled (NYSID) is the agency designated to facilitate orders among agencies for the severely disabled and veterans’ workshops. SED is responsible for the monitoring and oversight of NYSID and for ensuring NYSID is in compliance with all applicable regulations. An audit released in June 2016 found that SED provided only minimal oversight of NYSID offering little assurance NYSID was awarding contracts in a manner that best meets the purpose of the program as well as meeting program requirements. In a follow-up, auditors found OGS officials have made significant progress in addressing the issues identified in the initial audit.
For the period of February 2014 through May 2015, auditors found the claims for payment LIAAC submitted contained overbillings of $15,777. The claims were returned to DOH. Auditors also identified $95,918 in refunds and reimbursements from other entities for medical and dental expenses paid to LIAAC’s related entity and group medical benefits provider, the Long Island Network of Community Services, which should have been remitted to DOH.
An initial audit report issued in March 2016 found the owner of a Medicaid eye care provider inappropriately enrolled as Medicaid recipients and inappropriately billed Medicaid for vision services. In a follow up, auditors found that of the initial report’s eight audit recommendations, two were implemented, five were partially implemented, and one has not yet been implemented. In March of 2016, the Office of the Medicaid Inspector General (OMIG) commenced an investigation of the provider, the Provider’s billing company, and the recipients identified in the original audit. At the time of our follow-up review, the investigation was ongoing and OMIG officials stated that recoveries of Medicaid overpayments and corrective actions would occur, if warranted, when the investigation was complete.
An initial audit released in March 2016 found that Medicaid paid plans $21.4 million in capitation payments for recipients who were subsequently disenrolled. By the end of the audit fieldwork, some capitation payments had been recouped and about $12 million still needed to be recovered from the plans. In a follow-up, auditors found DOH officials made significant progress in addressing the problems identified in the initial audit report. However, further actions are still needed as only $3.4 million of the $12 million in improper capitation payments had been recovered.
Auditors determined the College of Health was overpaid $298,224 because school officials incorrectly certified some students as eligible for State financial aid awards. Incorrect certifications include eleven students who received awards but did not demonstrate academic preparedness and eight students who did not meet the requirements for full-time status.
While TBTA makes efforts to collect unpaid tolls, we found $11.3 million in tolls that were either written off ($5.4 million in OTG tolls) or uncollected ($2.3 in OTG tolls and $3.6 in Deferred Tolls).In addition, TBTA had more than $72 million in unpaid fees for the Henry Hudson Bridge from 2013 through 2015. TBTA officials advised that they consider the fees a deterrent, but have waived as much as 90 percent of fees due upon receipt of the payment of the unpaid tolls. TBTA also did not fully utilize the new DMV registration suspension program, as evidenced by submitting only a limited number of registrations for suspension each week after the initial introductory period.
Lifeline is a Queens, New York-based not-for-profit organization authorized by SED to provide preschool special education services to children with disabilities who are between the ages of 3 and 5. For the three fiscal years ended June 30, 2015, auditors identified $304,192 in reported costs that did not comply with state guidelines, including $80,506 in bonuses.
HeartShare is a New York City-based not-for-profit organization authorized by SED to provide preschool special education services to children with disabilities who are between the ages of 3 and 5. For the three fiscal years ended June 30, 2014, auditors identified $1,529,789 in reported costs that did not comply with state requirements, including: $891,018 in non-program expenses for compensation paid to 71 individuals who did not work for HeartShare’s SED preschool cost-based programs; $204,855 in ineligible employee bonuses that did not comply with SED’s reimbursement requirements; and $201,237 in over-allocated expenses, including $60,338 in personal service costs and $140,899 in other than personal service costs.