City returns Medicaid overpayments

EAST PALESTINE -- City Manager Gary Clark said the city has paid $4,208 to Ohio Job and Family Services Department to remedy Medicaid reimbursement overpayments to the East Palestine Fire Department.
A review of Medicaid provider reimbursement records recently released by Ohio Auditor Jim Petro's office listed findings for recovery for Jan. 1, 1998, through March 31, 2001. Clark said auditors notified him of the problem in October and payment was made soon after.
Clark said the fire department is working to improve its billing procedures to remedy such errors. He said said some overpayment was the result of errors in computer software, and new software has been purchased.
Auditors said the funds are recoverable, as they resulted from Medicaid claims submitted by the fire department for services that did not meet reimbursement rules under the Ohio Medicaid Transportation manual and the Ohio Administrative Code.
Auditors said nonemergency ambulance transports were billed as emergency transports, and they found duplicate payments on the same day for the same services.
They also found that some nonemergency transports did not have the required physician certification.