Penny Wise and Pound Foolish

Attached a link to an interesting article titled "Florida’s Medicaid fraud fighting cuts cost state millions in matching money, report says" highlighting the fact that Florida missed out on millions in federal funds by cutting the budget for its Medicaid fraud unit and prosecution referrals and arrest warrants are down. Twenty-three positions in the fraud unit have gone unfilled because of budget shortfalls, according to a report issued by the Florida Attorney General’s Office and the Agency for Health Care Administration.The report said because of “critical” shortfalls, “the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit’s general revenue budget reduction was approximately $631,290, which resulted in an additional loss of $1.89 million in federal funds to the State of Florida.” The federal government provides $12.5 million of the Medicaid fraud unit’s $16.7 million budget, but the money is partly tied to matching state funds, which were $4.2 million for the year ended June 30. Not mentioned in the release, but available in a 62-page report from the two agencies, is documentation of budget cuts and a decline in some measures of anti-fraud efforts: —A 9 percent decline in cases opened, 324, compared to the previous year. —A 15 percent decline in referrals for prosecution to 52. —A 22 percent decline in recoveries from Medicaid Program Integrity audits to $62.2 million. —A 23 percent decline in warrants for arrest to 69. In my opinion the (in)action taken by the State of Florida regarding the Medicaid fraud unit funding is either an indicator of administrative malpractice, or reveals plain simple stupidity. Who will be hold accountable for the loss of $1.89 million in federal funds to the State of Florida? Yours Bernd