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Department of Agriculture and Markets –
Protection of Managed Pollinators (Honey Bees) (Follow-Up) (2023-F-43)
Honey bees are essential to the agricultural industry for the pollination
services they provide. The State developed the New York State Pollinator
Protection Plan in 2016 to address the high loss of pollinators in the State. A
prior audit, issued in January 2023, found that the Department of Agriculture
and Markets (Ag&Mkts) could strengthen its actions to combat disease and
parasitic organisms within colonies by including additional tests for certain
diseases and could improve its efforts to ensure honey bees entering the State
are healthy and free from disease. Additionally, Ag&Mkts did not have
support or reasonable assurance that it had identified the full population of
active apiaries in the State, which is necessary for thorough monitoring and
inspection purposes. Ag&Mkts made progress in addressing the issues identified
in the initial audit report, implementing both recommendations.
Office of Temporary and Disability
Assistance – Reimbursement of Homeless Shelter Providers – Rescue Mission
Alliance of Syracuse (Follow-Up) (2024-F-2)
The Onondaga County Department of Social Services contracted with the
not-for-profit Rescue Mission Alliance of Syracuse (Rescue Mission) to provide
homeless services. The Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance (OTDA) is
responsible for reviewing each shelter’s operating budget, working with the
local departments of social services (Local Districts) to ensure that all
required documents have been included, and assessing budgeted operating costs
to verify that they are reasonable and necessary. A prior audit, issued in
October 2022, found that, outside of OTDA’s oversight processes for the review
and approval of shelter budgets, OTDA had not taken any action thereafter to
ensure that shelters’ actual costs claimed for reimbursement complied with the
approved budget, State laws and regulations, or OTDA’s own policies. OTDA made
some progress addressing the issues from the original report, recovering an
overpayment and establishing a system of monitoring controls over Local
Districts. Of the initial report’s four recommendations, two were implemented,
one was partially implemented, and one was not implemented.
Department of Corrections and Community
Supervision – Oversight of Transportation Services and Expenses (Follow-Up)
(2023-F-37)
Many of the Department of Corrections and Community Supervision’s (DOCCS)
employees operate its vehicles in its day-to-day operations. Five of its 44
correctional facilities, as well as its Central Office and seven regional
offices that provide support services for enrollees, exclusively use a
centralized procurement contract (Contract) for fleet management and repair
services. A prior audit, issued in June 2022, found DOCCS performed limited to
no central monitoring of payments made through its Contractor and did not
monitor in-house maintenance expenses, instead relying on each facility or
office for accurate reporting. DOCCS officials made some progress in addressing
the issues identified in the initial report, taking steps to implement
procedures to monitor the Contractor’s performance and implementing a process
to ensure maintenance costs are reasonable and comply with requirements. Of the
initial report’s seven recommendations, two have been implemented, four have
been partially implemented, and one has not been implemented.
New York City Department of Finance –
Citywide Payment Services and Standards – Controls Over Payments (2022-N-2)
The New York City Department of Finance (DOF) Citywide Payments Services and
Standards unit administers a centralized payment repository for accepting
payments made to City agencies (System) intended to allow agencies to focus on
their core business while helping them save time and money. Auditors found that
DOF could improve controls and monitoring for its System to ensure payments are
promptly reconciled. Further, they found that DOF does not attempt to determine
whether the System promotes time and cost savings for agencies despite these
savings being a stated goal of the System.
Office of Temporary and Disability
Assistance – Reimbursement of Homeless Shelter Providers – Westhab Inc.’s
Coachman Family Center (Follow-Up) (2024-F-1)
The Westchester County Department of Social Services contracted with the
not-for-profit Westhab Inc. (Westhab) to operate
New York State Health Insurance Program
– Anthem Blue Cross – Coordination of Benefits With Medicare (2023-S-3)
The Empire Plan is the primary health benefits plan for the New York State
Health Insurance Program, administered by the Department of Civil Service
(Civil Service). Civil Service contracts with Anthem Blue Cross (Anthem) to
administer the Hospital Program of the Empire Plan, and many enrollees and
their dependents have other insurance coverage in addition to the Empire Plan
such as Medicare. Coordination of benefits is a process health insurance
companies use for paying health care claims when people are covered by more
than one insurance plan. For the audit period, auditors found Anthem improperly
paid 241 claims totaling $5,259,416 because proper coordination of benefits did
not occur. Anthem’s eligibility system was not always updated promptly with
members’ Medicare-related information, and weaknesses in Anthem’s and Civil
Service’s reconciliation of member enrollment data prevented opportunities for
recovery.
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