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Some Selected Health Centers Received Duplicate Reimbursement From HRSA For COVID-19 Testing Services

Issued on  | Posted on  | Report number: A-02-23-02009

Report Materials

Why OIG Did This Audit

  • Congress appropriated $8.2 billion for COVID-19 supplemental grant funding for the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) Health Center Program from 2020 through 2022.
  • Separately, during the same period, HRSA reimbursed providers more than $24.5 billion in COVID-19 Uninsured Program (UIP) funds for providing COVID-19 testing and treatment services to uninsured individuals.
  • Prior OIG audit work identified that some health centers charged costs for processing COVID-19 tests to their COVID-19 supplemental grant funding and also submitted claims and received reimbursement for the same services from the UIP.

What OIG Found

  • Twelve of 106 sampled health centers charged $313,270 in laboratory costs for processing COVID-19 tests to their COVID-19 supplemental grants, submitted claims for the same services to the UIP, and received reimbursements from the UIP for these services.
  • On the basis of our sample results, we estimated that health centers in our sample frame claimed $673,962 in COVID-19 supplemental grant funds that were also reimbursed by the UIP for the same services.

What OIG Recommends

We made two recommendations to HRSA, including that it require the 12 health centers to refund $313,270 to the Federal Government. The full recommendations are in the report. HRSA concurred with both recommendations.

26-A-02-026.01 to HRSA - Open Unimplemented
Update expected on 06/15/2026
We recommend that the Health Resources and Services Administration require the 12 health centers that charged unallowable COVID-19 supplemental grant costs to refund $313,270 to the Federal Government.

26-A-02-026.02 to HRSA - Open Unimplemented
Update expected on 06/15/2026
We recommend that the Health Resources and Services Administration reiterate guidance to these 12 health centers for developing and maintaining financial management systems and internal controls that ensure that only allowable and allocable costs are charged to future HRSA programs similar in nature.

View in Recommendation Tracker
Report Type
Audit
HHS Agencies
Health Resources and Services Administration
Issue Areas
COVID-19 Emergency Preparedness and Response Financial Stewardship Public Health Issues
Target Groups
–
Financial Groups
Grants

Notice

This report may be subject to section 5274 of the National Defense Authorization Act Fiscal Year 2023, 117 Pub. L. 263.