Nebraska auditor finds both progress, more trouble in reimbursements for in-home care payments
Mike Foley has served as state auditor twice, from 2007-2015 and again beginning in 2023, after serving as lieutenant governor under then-Gov. Pete Ricketts. He is pictured presiding over the Nebraska Legislature in 2022. (Rebecca S. Gratz for the Nebraska Examiner)
LINCOLN — A pre-Christmas update to an audit of a Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services program found that despite tightened recordkeeping, financial blessings flowed for months for questionable reimbursements for in-home care.
Some providers could face consequences after Nebraska State Auditor Mike Foley’s staff scrutinized the state’s payment systems. The latest problems were found despite DHHS having tightened its processes after a state audit in February found poor recordkeeping and financial controls.
One such provider, Omaha-based Murray’s Blessings, received more than $1 million in payments, including many the auditor flagged as possibly fraudulent. The provider was reimbursed for two employees’ services at the same time they were being detained or incarcerated for alleged crimes, Foley’s office said.
According to its Better Business Bureau profile, Murray’s Blessings provides in-home care to residents including meal preparation, transportation, cleaning and health-related services.
‘This program is defective’
“There’s tens of millions of dollars flowing through this thing, and the controls are so loose that you could literally be in jail and be paid,” Foley told the Examiner. “This program is defective and needs to be revised … in a serious way to protect the taxpayer and make sure the money goes where it needs to go.”
Some other highlights from Foley’s letter Wednesday to DHHS CEO Steve Corsi:
A caregiver at another firm was paid for providing services on 55 days at the same time the woman was working at her other job in financial technology.
DHHS paid for a caregiver to work 88 hours a week — which the auditor notes is the equivalent of two full-time jobs — while holding a third full-time job in county government.
The state paid up to 85.5 hours a week to one caregiver who was simultaneously working full-time for a rental management company. On 29 days, the firm was reimbursed for in-home care while records showed the caregiver was working at the other job.
Another caregiver was paid for providing services while working as a student bus driver as well as when attending a court hearing. DHHS had already identified the caregiver for seeking questionable reimbursements previously.
Some flagged previously
Foley compared the frequency of some double-billing to the ability of some Catholic saints to be in two places at once, saying they could not “bilocate.”
He also questioned the processes at HHS that would allow people previously flagged with questionable Medicaid reimbursement filings to continue being paid with minimal scrutiny.
These and other examples were added to the original letter Foley sent DHHS in February identifying problems with the state’s system for reimbursing people and companies providing in-home care.
Corsi and DHHS said in a statement Wednesday they agreed with the findings in Foley’s first letter and have made significant upgrades to the state’s information technology systems.
“We also added two full-time internal auditors, bringing the internal audit team up to six auditors,” Corsi said. “The department is dedicated to combating fraud and waste.”
NE auditor: ‘Flagrant abuses,’ up to $1.5M in questionable billings suspected in DHHS program
The latest audit started with a random sample of 15 claims and tested more claims when it found mistakes. The error rate at HHS improved from 23% in February to 9% by the year’s end.
Combined, the latest audit found $98,000 in questionable costs in the sample. That’s on top of $54,000 identified earlier this year involving the same program. Foley has estimated the possible annual losses to the state at more than $1.5 million.
Foley praised Corsi for taking his office’s concerns seriously. He said he looks forward to continuing to “collaborate with him toward solutions that respect the taxpayers of our State.”
The Auditor’s Office shares allegations of wrongdoing involving state funds with the state agencies and with the Nebraska Attorney General’s Office.
SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
