True Crime of Insurance Fraud Video Number 53

Medicaid Paid Benefits to the Dead: Incompetence or Fraud or Both

INDIANA

The state of Indiana paid some $1.1 million in Medicaid-related payments in
2016 and 2017 to managed-care organizations (MCO) on behalf of beneficiaries who were dead, according to federal auditors reported by the United States Department of Justice.

The audit, carried out by the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (OIG) and released on February 13, 2020 revealed that in a random sample of 100 so-called capitation disbursements made to MCOs, the state of Indiana “made 95 unallowable payments.”

The Office of the Attorney General found:

Indiana made capitation payments on behalf of deceased beneficiaries. We confirmed that 70of the 71beneficiaries associated with the 100 capitation payments in our stratified random sample were deceased. Of the 100 capitation payments, Indiana made 95 unallowable payments totalling $79,403 ($58,773 Federal share). On the basis of our sample results, we estimated that Indiana made payments totalling at least $1.1 million ($862,097 Federal share) to MCOs on behalf of deceased beneficiaries during our audit period.

Indiana did not always fully process Medicaid beneficiaries’ death information in the MMIS. Although the State agency’s eligibility systems interfaced with Federal and State data exchanges that identify dates of death, the State agency did not enter the dates of death in the MMIS for 48 of our sampled beneficiaries. Additionally, the State agency did not recover the capitation payments for 22 sampled beneficiaries that did have a date of death in the MMIS.

The organizations that received the unlawful payments are part of the Medicaid Managed Care health care delivery system.

Medicaid agencies and managed care organizations (MCOs) that accept a set per member per month (capitation) payment for these services,” the Medicaid program site states. MCOs use capitation payments to manage health care costs, utilization, and quality.

The OIG concluded that the State agency made capitation payments on behalf of deceased beneficiaries. OIG confirmed that 70 of 71 beneficiaries associated with the 100 capitation payments in our sample were deceased. Of the 100 capitation payments, the State agency made 95 unallowable payments totalling $79,403 ($58,773 Federal share).

The State agency did not recover any of the 95 sampled capitation payments. On the basis of the sample results, the DOJ estimated that the State agency made payments totalling at least $1.1 million10($862,097 Federal share) to MCOs on behalf of deceased beneficiaries for service dates during the audit period.

Yet aspects of the system have been plagued by problems, with the Indiana report coming on the heels of others that similarly found that some states had improperly paid capitation payments on behalf of the deceased.

Similarly, an audit released in September 2019 found that Illinois paid an estimated $4.6 million to MCOs to cover deceased Medicaid beneficiaries. Illinois Medicaid administrator Doug Elwell acknowledged the findings in a written response to the audit and said state authorities would try to recover the improper payments and refund them to the federal government.

Similarly, Indiana Medicaid Director Allison Taylor said in a written response included in the audit that the state agrees with the conclusions of the report and will seek to recoup the payments.

There are more than 71 million people currently covered under Medicaid, the social safety net program created five decades ago and expanded by President Barack Obama through the Affordable Care Act, commonly known as Obamacare. The Trump administration has sought to reform the system, recently announcing that it would test letting state Medicaid programs limit health benefits and prescription drug coverage for some patients in return for changing how federal government contributions to the states are made.

The Failure of the State Agency

The contracts between the State agency and the MCOs required compliance with the provisions in Indiana’s Hoosier Healthwise and Healthy Indiana Plan MCE Policies and Procedures Manual, which states that beneficiaries’ enrolment will be terminated upon death and that payments to the MCO will be adjusted for retroactive disenrollment of the beneficiaries.

The State agency did not always process Medicaid beneficiaries’ death information or recover capitation payments in the MMIS. When the State agency properly processes death information, the MMIS uses that information to identify a beneficiary as deceased, stop future capitation payments, and initiate the recovery process for capitation payments that were made after the beneficiary’s month of death.

What OIG Recommended

The Office of the Attorney General recommended that Indiana:

refund $862,097 to the Federal Government;
identify and recover unallowable payments made to MCOs during our audit period on behalf of deceased beneficiaries, which we estimate to be at least $1.1 million;
identify capitation payments made on behalf of deceased beneficiaries before and after our audit period, and repay the Federal share of amounts recovered; and
ensure that dates of death are added to the MMIS and that capitation payments made after the beneficiaries’ deaths are recovered
Unallowable Payments for Beneficiaries Who Had a Date of Death

Dates of death were recorded in the MMIS for 22 of the 70 deceased beneficiaries. Nevertheless, the State agency made unallowable payments on behalf of these deceased beneficiaries. The State agency stated that it would conduct further research to determine why it did not recover the 27 capitation payments for these beneficiaries.