State Withholds Medicaid Payments After Comptroller Hevesi Objects
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ALBANY- The state has halted Medicaid payments to a company amid objections by the state comptroller, Alan Hevesi, over claims that included 155 procedures for one patient, officials said yesterday.
In a letter sent to the Medicaid inspector general, Kimberly O’Connor yesterday, Mr. Hevesi said Signature Health Center LLC of the Bronx has refused to allow Mr. Hevesi’s office to audit its books.
The state Department of Health agreed to stop payments on Monday, spokesman Robert Kenny said. The department started investigating the company, which was paid $5.4 million for about 30,000 claims last year, in December.
Mr. Kenny did not immediately know how much in payments would be affected by the state’s move.
A statement from Signature last night said, “Signature has no hesitation or reluctance to have any and all appropriate state agencies review and audit its Medicaid records. In fact, the NYS Department of Health … is, at this very time, sitting in Signatures offices and reviewing Signatures Medicaid records with Signatures full assistance and cooperation.”
The company’s statement said that under federal law, the company must protect patients’ medical records from people or groups who don’t have permission to review them, and the comptroller’s office falls into that category.
