Review of Health Care Financing Administration's Regional Office Accounts Receivable In Region IX

In accordance with an interagency agreement, the Office of Inspector General (OIG) has performed a review of the Health Care Financing Administration's (HCFA) Region IX accounts receivable beginning balance at October 1, 1998 and additional receivable activity for the 6 months ended March 31, 1999. The results of our review will be considered in the preparation of the Fiscal Year (FY) 1999 financial statements for HCFA.

We found that Region IX's accounts receivable were overstated by a net $123.1 million, and that financial adjustments and procedural improvements need to be made or else HCFA's FY 1999 financial statements could be misstated. The $123.1 million is the net of total overstatements of $143.2 million offset by $20.1 million of unrecorded transfers from Medicare contractors.