Story originally printed in the Vernon Broadcaster or online at www.vernonbroadcaster.com
Published - Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Medicaid behind by 30 months in reimbursing Vernon County
Vernon Manor in Viroqua could be out of money by July 1 if an accounting problem created by $2 million in late Medicaid reimbursements is not fixed.
Two county committees reported on the issue this week and county officials said they had gotten assurances from the federal government that a deposit will be made no later than Monday, June 23.
According to the minutes of the county strategic planning committee, the county has not been reimbursed from Medicaid for services at Vernon Manor for 30 months. The minutes also state that the county auditor, Jack Vig of Vig and Associates has stated the delay has cost the county as much as $100,000 in interest revenue. The minutes state that Vig is concerned the issue threatens to jeopardize insurance payments from private carriers for some cases if it is not resolved.
The minutes go on to say county board chairman Tom Spenner received an email from National Government Services, a contractor that handles Medicaid reimbursements, that stated a deposit will be made for the reimbursements in the next two to three working days. According to the minutes the Vig gave the Vernon Manor board an opinion that it is not unusual to have delays in getting reimbursements but 30 months “seems an inordinate amount of time.”
Vernon Manor board trustee Ole Yttri said he has received regular reports on the issue and there have been a number of reasons for the delay. Yttri said initially the paperwork to receive the reimbursement was not filled out correctly, then the forms were changed so they needed to be filled out again. Yttri said at one point in the process the county was told the money would be deposited in electronically and then it was not. Then it was discovered that the legal address for Vernon Manor not correct and reimbursements may have been gotten misdirected.
Yttri said all of the delays have been corrected and he has received assurances the problem is solved.
“We were told a large sum of money will be deposited either today (Friday, June 20) or Monday,” said Yttri. “It is a serious issue.”
Yttri said despite the hang up in getting reimbursements the facility has not had to ask the county finance committee for help.
“They have had funds available so far and have been able to cover everything,” said Yttri.
All stories copyright 2006 Vernon Broadcaster and other attributed sources.