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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

July 13, 2017

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

Department of Health (DOH): Medicaid Program: Medicaid Payments for Pharmacy Claims - Joia Pharmacy and a Related Prescriber (2013-S-4)

Based on a statistical projection, auditors determined DOH overpaid Joia $1,485,121 for improper pharmacy claims. Disallowances included: claims billed for excess quantities of drugs; claims for drugs in which the prescriptions were missing or invalid; and claims for unauthorized and inappropriate refills. The audit also identified a range of practices by both Joia and a doctor that warrant further review. The doctor was listed as the prescriber on 63 percent of Joia's claims; among these claims, auditors found high volumes of prescriptions for individual patients on single days, and instances of drug conflicts and prescriptions that exceeded utilization.

Department of Health (DOH): Inappropriate Payments for Recipients not Enrolled in Medicaid Mainstream Managed Care or Family Health Plus (2015-S-47)

For the period Oct. 1, 2010 through Dec. 31, 2014, DOH made 190,686 improper or questionable premium payments, totaling about $72.6 million, on behalf of 105,358 recipients who were subsequently disenrolled retroactively from managed care plans and who did not receive medical services during the disenrollment periods. This included more than $10.5 million related to 7,415 deceased recipients. During the six-month period after auditors provided the claim details to DOH, 14,209 claims totaling more than $7.4 million in improper premium payments had been voided, leaving 176,477 premium payments totaling about $65.2 million that still needed to be reviewed and, if warranted, recovered.

New York State Health Insurance Program: Empire BlueCross BlueShield (Empire): Controls over Payments for Special Items (2016-S-57)

In response to prior audits, Empire improved its controls over the identification and recovery of overpayments for special items. As a result of Empire's efforts, including contracts with two vendors, Empire recovered overpayments totaling $6,313,534 for special items. Nonetheless, auditors concluded that Empire needs to further enhance its reviews of special item payments by incorporating steps and techniques that result in additional recoveries.

New York State Liquor Authority (SLA): Statewide Compliance with Administrative Requirements for Retail Liquor License Approvals, Renewals, and Enforcement Actions (2016-S-32)

On a statewide basis, SLA generally approved new liquor licenses and license renewals consistent with state law and its prescribed administrative protocols. SLA adequately ensured that license applicants and parties seeking renewals complied with the prescribed documentation requirements. For the new license applications selected for review, SLA had 99 percent of the required documentation on file. SLA also complied with its administrative requirements pertaining to license revocations, cancellations, and suspensions.

Department of Health, Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation - Department of Environmental Conservation Oversight of Health and Safety Regulations at Public Pools, Beaches, and Spray Grounds (2016-S-55)

All three agencies have appropriate controls in place and are providing adequate oversight to ensure that public pools, beaches, and spray grounds under their jurisdiction are safe for public use. Each agency has developed procedures to address health and safety issues at each of the facilities it operates or oversees.

New York City Department of Finance: Selected Controls over Property Tax Assessments (2015-N-1)

Auditors reviewed 508 parcels valued during fiscal year 2014 to fiscal year 2016 and found the agency did not conduct necessary inspections for 276 (54 percent) of them. Without the required inspections, DOF cannot be certain such changes are adequately considered when valuing a property.

Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance (OTDA): Electronic Benefit Transfer Card Transactions and Prohibited Locations (2016-S-52)

OTDA has adopted appropriate policies and practices to avoid the risk of federal financial penalties. In addition, auditors found the office's monitoring of EBT transactions to generally be adequate, but identified certain strategic refinements that could help the office to better monitor transactions and identify violations. Auditors analyzed client card usage at prohibited locations and identified 15 recipients with 20 or more EBT transactions. Of these, seven recipients had 20 or more transactions at the Turning Stone Casino, including one recipient with 71 EBT card transactions totaling more than $3,360.

Department of State (DOS): Monitoring of Not-for-Profit Cemetery Corporations for Fiscal Stability and Adequate Facility Maintenance (2016-S-79)

As of Sept. 30, 2016, DOS records indicate 642 cemeteries (37 percent) had overdue audits and 285 (16 percent) had delinquent annual reports. For 145 cemeteries (8 percent), audits were overdue and annual reports were delinquent as well. As of Dec. 1, 2016, 391 cemeteries (22 percent) had not been inspected in over seven years.