Oklahoma Health Care Authority

Medicaid Program: Payments for Medicaid Services for Deceased Recipients January 1, 2000 through September 20, 2001

In the mid 1990s, the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (DHHS -OIG) began an initiative to work more closely with states in reviewing the Medicaid program. Through this initiative, the OIG / State Audit Partnership Plan was developed in the later 1990s to expand Medicaid program audits and allow state auditors to apply methodologies that DHHS had successfully used in their Medicare audits. One such area was provider payments made for services following to a recipients date of death In proactive response, the Oklahoma Health Care Authority initiated its first audit of "Payments for Medicaid Services for Deceased Recipients" in the summer of 2000. The first report, completed in August 2000, covered calendar years 1996 through 1999 and identified $979,892 in recoverable overpayments for services billed after the recipients date of death. Subsequently, the Oklahoma Health Care Authority has performed periodic recoupment reviews regarding this area of overpayments. This report provides information resulting from the recoupment reviews, since the first initial report, covering calendar year 2000 and the first nine months of calendar year 2001.