States Fail To Report Health Provider Sanctions

WASHINGTON (AP) - Government investigators say a number of
states routinely fail to notify federal authorities when they kick
health care providers out of their Medicaid programs.
The lack of notice makes it easier for barred providers to set
up shop in other states and to continue getting payments from
federal health programs.
The inspector general for the Health and Human Services
Department maintains the list of health care providers prohibited
from getting any federal health reimbursements. Some 61 percent of
the more than 4,300 sanctions imposed by state Medicaid agencies in
2004 and 2005 could not be found in the federal database.
A report says a dozen states submitted incomplete data or didn't
take required actions in 2004 and 2005, including Michigan and
California. Both states have large Medicaid populations.