Medicaid funds in question
New Jersey is being asked to pay back $61 million in federal Medicaid reimbursements because the state has not documented whether some services claimed for disabled people were provided, U.S. government auditors said.
New Jersey is being asked to pay back $61 million in federal Medicaid reimbursements because the state has not documented whether some services claimed for disabled people were provided, U.S. government auditors said.
The overbilling happened from 2005 to 2007 in a program that provides home care for mentally and physically disabled people, auditors at the Health and Human Services Department's Office of Inspector General said in a report today. The state billed the federal government $1.4 billion for the program during the period.
New Jersey and contractors it hired to provide the services "did not ensure that they claimed reimbursement only for documented, allowable" work, auditors said.
Work was not documented for services such as respite care that New Jersey said it delivered to some patients, auditors said. The state also did not always follow federal procedures, according to the report.