Audit of the Office of Inspector General Excluded Providers in Georgia

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:

This final report presents the results of an Office of Inspector General (OIG), Office of Audit Services audit made to determine if the Georgia Medicaid Program was appropriately preventing providers that have been excluded from the Medicare and Medicaid programs by the OIG from being enrolled and paid by the Georgia Medicaid program.  Our review indicated that the Georgia Medicaid Program made payments of $41,245 ($23,132 Federal share) to excluded providers during Calendar Year 1999.  These improper payments occurred because the State did not have an adequate mechanism in place to prevent excluded providers from participating in the Medicaid program.  We recommended that these improper payments be rebooked on the State's Quarterly Expenditure Report as recoveries, that the State take steps to prevent excluded providers from participating in the Georgia Medicaid program, and that the State terminate those excluded providers who are currently enrolled.