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NEWS from the Office of the New York State Comptroller
Contact: Press Office 518-474-4015

State Comptroller DiNapoli Releases Audits

January 17, 2018

New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli announced today the following audits and examinations have been issued:

State Education Department: Kennedy Child Study Center: Compliance with the Reimbursable Cost Manual (2017-S-7)

Kennedy 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 three and five years. During the 2013-14 school year, Kennedy served about 345 students. The New York City Department of Education (DoE) refers students to Kennedy and pays for its services using rates established by SED. The DoE is reimbursed by SED for a portion of its payments to Kennedy. For the three fiscal years ended June 30, 2014, auditors identified $612,781 in reported costs that did not comply with state guidelines for reimbursement.

Public Service Commission: Pipeline Safety Oversight (Follow-Up) (2017-F-20)

An initial report issued in March 2016 found Department of Public Service (DPS) staff working under the Public Service Commission did not verify the accuracy of the information on employee/contractor qualifications maintained by individual operators. DPS staff rely on this data during field audits. In addition, DPS had not set up a process to identify instances where operators failed to notify them of specific gas-related incidents as required. In a follow-up, auditors determined DPS officials made significant progress in addressing the issues identified in the initial audit.

New York City Department for the Aging: Congregate Meal Services for the Elderly (2016-N-5)

Auditors found that DFTA officials could not demonstrate that they contracted with optimally located senior centers to ensure the maximum number of eligible senior citizens can take advantage of the congregate meals being offered. DFTA did not perform any analysis to determine whether the costs submitted by sponsors were reasonable.  Auditors also reviewed the sponsors’ administrative costs for four randomly selected senior centers and found that one overstated its February 2016 invoice by $12,006, and may have received $120,570 in overpayments during the fiscal year ended June 30, 2016.

New York State Health Insurance Program: UnitedHealthcare (UHC): Improper Payments for Medical Services Designated By Modifier Code 59 (Follow-Up) (2017-F-23)

An initial audit report released in January 2015 identified 13 claims out of a sample of 245 that were overpaid by $39,345 because a distinct or independent service was not provided as required even though the services were designated as such with modifier 59. Based on statistical sampling techniques, auditors estimated that UHC overpaid between $1.6 million and $5.2 million for services that included modifier 59 during the one-year period ending Aug. 31, 2013. In a follow-up, auditors found UHC officials made significant progress in addressing the issues identified in the initial audit. UHC also recovered $29,856 of the $39,345 in identified overpayments.

State University of New York: Compliance With Payment Card Industry (PCI) Standards (Follow-Up) (2017-F-24)

An initial audit report issued in June 2016 found that although SUNY schools were generally knowledgeable about PCI compliance and the need to protect credit card data from unauthorized access, a range of weaknesses were found. In a follow-up, auditors found SUNY schools and the SUNY System Administration have made significant progress in implementing the recommendations identified in the initial report.

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