Selected reports and information published by New York State's Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli

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Selected reports and information published by NewYork State's Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoliIssued during the week ending November16, 2012 [Click on the caption to access the full report]
Department of Health, Improper PaymentsRelated to the Medicare Buy-In Program (2010-S-76)
From March 2006 through February 2011, Medicaid made nearly 260,000 improperpayments, totaling about $26.8 million, for people enrolled in the Medicarebuy-in program. The improper payments included $21.1 million in Medicarepremiums for people who were ineligible for the buy-in program. This included improperpayments of $1.9 for 532 people who were deceased. The improper paymentsresulted from insufficient DOH oversight, poor local district practices, andweaknesses in certain Medicaid claims processing controls. Auditors recommendedDOH increase oversight of local districts, recover inappropriate Medicarebuy-in payments, and improve the Medicaid claims processing system to ensureaccurate payment of medical claims for individuals eligible for the buy-inprogram.
 
Division of Housing and Community Renewal,Quality of Internal Control Certification (2012-S-31)
In 1987, the Legislature passed the New York State Governmental Accountability,Audit and Internal Control Act requiring State agencies and public authoritiesto institute a comprehensive system of internal controls over their operations.By April 30 each year, DOB requires each covered agency to certify compliancewith the act. On April 26, 2011, DHCR submitted its annual Internal ControlCertification and reported full compliance with all provisions of the Act.DHCR's internal control certification was submitted timely. However, auditorsidentified several areas where the quality of the certification and/or theactual internal control program could be improved.

Office of Mental Health, Quality of InternalControl Certification (2012-S43) See 2012-S-31 above for description of requirements
OMH's Internal Control Certification was submitted on time and generallyexhibited the necessary quality. Answers to most questions were complete andresponsive, and were supported by records and documents maintained by theagency. However, OMH's certification did not provide sufficient detail indescribing the results of its reviews of high-risk activities.

Office of Parks, Recreation and HistoricPreservation, Quality of Internal Control Certification (2012-S-49) See 2012-S-31 above for description ofrequirements
On June 25, 2012, Parks submitted itsannual Internal Control Certification and reported full compliance with allprovisions of the Act. Parks’ Internal Control Certification was submitted, 56days after the April 30 deadline.  Parks’ certification did not providethe required level of detail, did not support some statements with sufficientdocumentation, and was unable to provide evidence of the communication of theInternal Control Officer designee to all staff. The office has not yetcompleted a program of internal control review and its internal audit functionhas not undergone an external quality assessment as required by professionalstandards.

Department of Health Overpayments forHospital Readmissions (Follow-Up) (2012-F-11)
An initial audit report examinedwhether the Department of Health (DOH) overpaid hospitals when the hospitalsreadmitted patients they had recently discharged. The audit identifiedoverpayments totaling nearly $163,000 from a review of a judgmental sample ofclaims from five hospitals. The hospitals have already refunded theoverpayments to Medicaid. The audit also identified four other hospitals withquestionable claims. In a follow-up report, auditors found DOH officials havemade progress in correcting the problems identified in the initial report. Ofthe five prior audit recommendations, three have been implemented, one has beenpartially implemented, and one is no longer applicable.

Thoroughbred Breeding and Development Fund,Selected Operating Practices (2011-S-36)
The fund has been receiving the statutorycommissions due from the tracks, OTBs, and VLT operators. However, whileassessing the statutory commission rates due the fund, we found that the NewYork Racing Association (NYRA) had shortchanged winning bettors byapproximately $7.4 million between Sept. 15, 2010 and Dec. 21, 2011. Thishappened because NYRA was not complying with statutory retainage rates onexotic bets. As a result of our finding, which was identified in December 2011,an investigation was conducted by the NYS Racing and Wagering Board which ledto the firing of NYRA’s president/CEO and its senior vice president/generalcounsel.  Auditors found the fund improperly underreported statutorilylimited administrative expenses and promotional expenses by $399,908 forcalendar years 2009 and 2010.