Posted on 06/05/2024 6:03:01 PM PDT by george76
California owes the federal government tens of millions of dollars for incorrectly claiming medical care reimbursements for noncitizens, a federal audit found.
The Golden State must repay nearly $53 million to the federal government after it “improperly” claimed reimbursements from the Medicaid program for illegal immigrants and other noncitizens, according to a recent report by the Office of the Inspector General at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The findings emerge as California grapples with a massive budget deficit in the tens of billions of dollars.
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The issue surrounds how California officials calculated federal reimbursements for noncitizen medical care.
States are largely prohibited from claiming Medicaid reimbursement for treating foreign nationals who do not meet federal requirements, with some exceptions for medical emergency situations, according to the audit. The federal government refers to this prohibited category as “noncitizens with unsatisfactory immigration status,” a group that does not include migrants who have been granted asylum, refugees, or were given legal permanent residence status.
However, states are allowed to expand their Medicaid programs to provide additional coverage to other noncitizens, as long as it is fully funded by the state government, according to the Department of Health and Human Services. California has largely done so with their own state program, known as Medi-Cal, which gives coverage to illegal immigrants.
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California used a formula to determine how much its Medi-Cal program spent on “nonemergency services” for illegal immigrants and other noncitizens not covered by the federal government, and then subtracted it from the total spent on emergency care — ultimately calculating a price tag that was reimbursed under Medicaid, according to the report.
Federal auditors found the calculation method used by California to be incorrect, determining it had not been updated in years. The report found that, of the nearly $373 million in Medicaid reimbursements for noncitizens who did not meet the federal threshold, California “improperly” claimed $52.7 million between October 2018 and June 2019.
“California improperly claimed $52.7 million in Federal Medicaid reimbursement because it continued to use the proxy percentage that was developed in the early 2000s without assessing whether the percentage correctly accounted for the costs of providing nonemergency services to noncitizens with UIS under managed care,” the audit found. “In addition, California did not have any policies and procedures for assessing and periodically reassessing the proxy percentage.”
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The report emerged just weeks after California Democrat Gov. Gavin Newsom announced hundreds of spending reductions in order to deal with a near $45 billion dollar state deficit. Budget cut proposals were made to the state’s healthcare workforce, housing development, education facilities, scholarships, among other proposals.
“The Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) does not contest the findings of the report by the Office of Inspector General (OIG) and plans to repay the federal government in full by June 30, 2024,” DHCS said in a statement to the Daily Caller News Foundation. “Additionally, DHCS has worked with the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to develop and implement a more refined service identification methodology with updated payment and claiming processes.”
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Looks like reparations are going to have to wait.
The Califonies taking care of their illegal aliens aka The Mayorkas Millions.
And there goes their budget after their budget is already in the red - and, they have to balance it. State law. So, where’s the money going to come from? The rich and middle class are leaving CA in droves.
Gov Nuisance is a major screwup————a perfect Democrat.
Not a problem. Brandon will forgive that debt.
In other words —— California taxpayers pay the bill.
Another Newsom stupidity.
Bribem wrecking havoc now that he realizes they are pulling the plug on crooked Joe?
And crank up the money machine.
Still love that slick haired Newsom?
2024 state poll showed 47% disapprove and 46% approve of Newsom in California.
California will not be forced to pay anything to the federal government. They man get a bill that recognizes the illegality, but it’s never going to have to pay with democrats in control of the White House and senate; the house may have control of the purse-strings, but enforcing of he law belongs with the DOJ, which is the same as Biden.
I have no doubt that this was not improper, but Criminal. And some people should be going to prison. Lets hope that when Trump gets in he sees that charges are filed in cases like this.
I sincerely hope, in however many years I have before I shuffle off this mortal coil, that the American people figure out how REALLY EVIL Democrats are, and hold them accountable for EVERY EVIL action/policy/law/rule/executive order/tax/regulation they have been able to foist upon us!
and the RATS take another one in the.........HA ha!!!
They say you can’t squeeze blood out of a turnip.
California is broke.
And thanks to their anti-business policies they are getting broker by the day.
If they do repay the money it just means that they will deny care to other Americans.
Not a problem. Brandon will forgive that debt.
^^^This, oh and by the way that $53 million figure is a drop in the bucket to the real number. Gaslighting once more.
Sooooooooooooo many criminals...so little time.
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