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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

February 8, 2019

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

City University of New York (CUNY): Time and Attendance Practices for Public Safety Staff (Follow-Up) (2018-F-29)

An initial report, issued in April 2015, concluded that neither CUNY nor York College had adequate internal controls over time and attendance for public safety officers. In a follow-up, auditors found that York College officials have made significant progress in addressing the issues identified in the initial report.

Department of Health (DOH) Medicaid Program: Improper Fee-for-Service Payments for Services Covered by Managed Care (2017-S-74)

Medicaid made over $36 million in improper fee-for-service payments for inpatient, practitioner, and dental services that should have been covered by managed care plans. Many of the improper payments identified were for newborn-related medical services.

Department of Motor Vehicles: Enforcement of 19-A of the Vehicle and Traffic Law (2018-S-7)

Auditors identified deficiencies in the department’s policies and procedures that could result in motor carriers operating out of compliance with state requirements – with the associated risk that under- or unqualified drivers who do not meet state standards are operating buses and potentially jeopardizing highway and passenger safety.

Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA): Homeless Outreach Program at the Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) (2018-S-35)

The LIRR entered into a contract with Services for the UnderServed (SUS) to provide homeless outreach services. SUS is responsible for performing outreach services by carrying out regular visits to the LIRR stations in Nassau and Suffolk counties and to observe, record, and report homeless outreach activity. Auditors found the LIRR has not developed any performance standards in its contract with SUS and has no basis for determining whether or not SUS’ homeless outreach services are meeting expectations for assisting homeless clients. The homeless outreach data reported by SUS to the LIRR contained inaccuracies and was not complete, and the LIRR did not have a process in place to verify data. Auditors found that SUS is failing to assist homeless people to the extent possible under its contract responsibilities.

Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA): New York City Transit, Manhattan and Bronx Surface Transit Operating Authority, MTA Bus Company, and Staten Island Railway: Employee Qualifications, Hiring, and Promotions (2017-S-48)

Auditors found the MTA did not use similar hiring and promotion policies, procedures, and directives for New York City Transit, Manhattan and Bronx Surface Transit Operating Authority, MTA Bus Company and Staten Island Railway. The MTA also lacks assurance that all employees, including train operators, conductors and bus operators, met the fitness level and qualifications to perform the job they were hired for or promoted into.

New York City Health and Hospitals Corp. (H+H): Controls Over Equipment (2017-N-9)

Auditors selected and reviewed a judgmental sample of 338 items (equipment) at nine H+H facilities to determine if H+H had established adequate controls over the recording, tracking, and disposal of equipment. Auditors determined that H+H’s controls over equipment need to be improved, as auditors were unable to find some items. In addition, H+H staff did not always accurately record information and made errors when tagging items.

New York Power Authority: Real Property Portfolio (Follow-up) (2017-F-16)

A prior audit found NYPA did not include all of its property in the reports it submits to the state and posts on its website. In addition, NYPA has not been consistent in how it reports disposals of real property. NYPA does not regularly review its real estate portfolio to identify properties it no longer needs, as required. NYPA property with a fair market value of more than $15,000 was leased for less than fair market value without notifying the Governor and Legislature, as the law requires. In a follow-up, auditors found that NYPA made some progress in addressing the problems identified in the prior report. However, additional actions are warranted.

New York State Health Insurance Program: UnitedHealthcare: Out-of-Network Providers Upcoding Selected Evaluation and Management Services (2017-S-34)

Auditors determined improvements are needed in United’s method for monitoring out-of-network providers who bill for higher-level evaluation and management services. The system that United uses can miss providers who routinely improperly bill the majority of their claims at higher-level codes.

Homeless Housing and Assistance Corporation: Homeless Housing and Assistance Program (HHAP) – Project Selection and Maintenance (2018-S-4)

HHAP awarded funding for 51 projects that it concluded met the scoring criteria during the three-year period ending March 31, 2016. These included 31 completed projects and 20 in the pre-construction or construction phase; all but one were operational or in the pre-construction or construction phase within two to four years of being awarded funding. HHAP completed or scheduled monitoring visits for 326 HHAP projects. However, 31 HHAP projects did not receive timely monitoring visits. HHAC requires all project providers to submit detailed annual reports. Forty-six annual reports were delinquent, with delays ranging from 94 to 803 days.

State Education Department (SED): Compliance With the Reimbursable Cost Manual Northside Center for Child Development (2017-S-15)

For the fiscal year ended June 30, 2014, auditors identified $270,040 in ineligible costs that Northside reported for reimbursement. Auditors recommend such costs be disallowed. The costs included $152,373 in personal service costs and $117,667 in other than personal service costs.

State Education Department (SED): NYSARC Inc. – NYC Chapter (School-Age Program): Compliance With the Reimbursable Cost Manual (2017-S-82)

NYSARC is a New York City-based not-for-profit organization authorized by SED to provide special education services to children with disabilities who are between the ages of 5 and 21 years. For the three fiscal years ended June 30, 2015, auditors identified $513,279 in reported costs that did not comply with requirements for state reimbursement and recommend such costs be disallowed.

State Education Department (SED): New York Therapy Placement Services Inc. (NYPTS): Compliance With the Reimbursable Cost Manual (2016-S-87)

NYTPS is an SED-approved, for-profit organization that provides preschool special education services to children with disabilities who are between three and five years of age. For the three fiscal years ended June 30, 2014, auditors identified $841,392 in reported costs that did not comply with requirements for state reimbursement.

State Education Department (SED): ADAPT Community Network: Compliance With the Reimbursable Cost Manual (2017-S-86)

ADAPT is a New York City-based not-for-profit organization authorized by SED to provide preschool special education serviced to children with disabilities who are between the ages of three and five years. For the three fiscal years ended June 30, 2015, auditors identified $5,418,457 in reported costs that did not comply with requirements for state reimbursement and recommend such costs be disallowed. These ineligible costs included $3,342,387 paid for a leased building that ADAPT did not occupy during the audit period.

State Education Department: Manual Therapy Inc.: Compliance With the Reimbursable Cost Manual (2016-S-38)

Manual Therapy is a New York City-based for-profit organization authorized by SED to provide preschool Special Education Itinerant Teacher (SEIT) services to children with disabilities who are between the ages of three and five years. For the three fiscal years ended June 30, 2014, auditors identified $818,286 in reported costs that did not comply with the requirements for state reimbursement.

Department of Taxation and Finance: Administration and Collection of Real Estate Transfer Taxes (2017-S-88)

Auditors found the department has – with certain exceptions – adequate systems and practices in place that allow it to effectively collect real estate transfer taxes (RETT). However, its reliance on hard copy RETT returns and related information from most state counties limits its ability to efficiently and effectively analyze information to identify higher-risk transactions.

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