The President's Council on Integrity and Efficiency Debt Collection Initiative at Cahaba Government Benefit Administrators

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:

The objectives of this audit were to:  (1) determine the amount of non-tax delinquent debt owed to Medicare that existed at September 30, 2000; and (2) assess the collectibility of the delinquent debt at the contractor level for the same period.  The accounts receivable balances Cahaba Government Benefit Administrators (CGBA) reported to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services for financial statement purposes for the period ending September 30, 2000 for Part A (non-Medicare secondary payor (MSP) and MSP) accounts receivable was $500,831,731.  We reconciled the subsidiary accounts for Part A to the general account.  Other audit tests we performed on statistical samples of Part A non-MSP balances showed the vast majority of receivables were recorded, supported, complete, properly valued and existed at September 30, 2000.  However, we did recommend that the contractor:  (1) correct the status codes on two accounts receivable balances to show the accurate status; (2) establish a system of internal controls that will provide adequate and timely tracking of its collections efforts; and (3) reduce the Part A MSP accounts receivable balance by over $17 thousand that were not adequately supported or had improperly applied payments.   The CGBA officials concurred with the majority of the recommendations and agreed to take corrective action.